Review by Booklist Review
Say the word spy, and whom do you think of first? James Bond? How about a quartet of American Christian missionaries? Unlikely? Not according to Sutton, who profiles the four, all of whom served as Office of Strategic Services (OSS) spies during WWII. The four William Eddy, Stephen Penrose, Stewart Herman, and John Birch offered a special skill set: they were fluent in numerous languages; worked closely with foreign peoples; knew the geographies of numerous parts of the world; understood competing beliefs, religions, and cultures; and knew how to immerse themselves in alien societies. Despite this commonality, they played various roles in the OSS: Eddy and Penrose rose rapidly through administrative ranks; Herman was largely deskbound but focused on rebuilding Germany following the war; and Birch served on the ground in China, where he doubled as an OSS agent and missionary. Sutton covers new territory in his interesting endeavor, as the work of the four has largely been secret until now. Readers will be fascinated by his revelations.--Michael Cart Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In this powerful work, historian Sutton follows the fledgling Office of Strategic Services (Roosevelt's intelligence agency) as its head, "Wild" Bill Donovan, launched a top-secret program: the recruitment of foreign missionaries in areas of Axis conflict. The agency's spies included William Eddy, a missionary in Africa and the Middle East; Stewart Herman, pastor of the American Church in Berlin; John Birch, an evangelist in China; and Stephen Penrose, the child of missionaries in the Middle East. Some directed operations in Egypt (Penrose) and Morocco (Eddy), aggressively building large networks of clergyman spies; others waded into combat, such as John Birch, who rescued downed Allied pilots in Japanese-occupied China. "Neither the missionaries themselves nor their religious agencies nor American military leaders felt comfortable acknowledging the wartime lying, deceiving, manipulating, and even killing that these religious activist operatives engaged in," so records relating to their activities were hidden, expunged, or destroyed, and the participants wrestled with internal conflict. Many solved this problem by believing that violence was a necessary means to achieving peace and spreading the word of God. Some of them were later involved in shaping U.S. foreign policy, with almost evangelical results: God's chosen people remaking the world in their image. This provocative book illuminates little-discussed history and raises larger philosophical questions. It is an unusually fresh and intelligent addition to WWII literature. (Sept.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
Historian Sutton examines the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) recruitment of religious leaders as U.S. secret agents during World War II. Sutton primarily follows the careers of four Protestant missionaries: U.S. Marine Col. William Eddy, the president of a religiously affiliated college; Stewart Herman, pastor of the American Church in Berlin; John Birch, an evangelist in China; and Stephen Penrose, an administrator and member of the American Board of Foreign Missions. Many feared that using missionaries for intelligence work would endanger these religious leaders as well as church, relief, and refugee workers. However, during World War II, some missionaries believed it was necessary to serve both God and country. Their stories are little known because both the intelligence agencies and the missionaries themselves have been quiet about their dual roles. Sutton delves deeply into the lives of these four men, and spends less time analyzing the significance of their particular stories and how they relate to current events. VERDICT Overall, recommended for scholars of World War II and religious history, and the history of espionage, as well as general readers interested in the intersection of American history and Christianity.--Beth Dalton, Littleton, CO
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
The little-known history of the "sometimes comic, sometimes tragic, and sometimes profound ways that the founders of the United States' pioneering foreign intelligence service tried to use humans' deep spirituality as a tool for war."The subjects of this military history were missionaries during World War II, sent by their houses of worship to spread the word of God throughout the world. But they also were American spies, charged by their handlers with all sorts of clandestine work that even included assassination plots. Though there were dozens of them, including Protestants, Catholics, and Jews, Sutton (History/Washington State Univ.; American Apocalypse: A History of Modern Evangelicalism, 2014, etc.) focuses on four of themWilliam Eddy, John Birch, Stephen Penrose, and Stewart Herman Jr.who served in a variety of arenas, from major embassies to the front lines. (One even led an air raid that killed scores of Japanese fighters.) Most of the missionaries agreed to their missions because they thought of America as the classic city on the hill. Sutton's research is impressive, his writing is clear, and his account is exhaustivebut also occasionally exhausting. It seems the author couldn't bear to leave any of his research in his notes; as a result, the primary narrative often gets buried beneath an avalanche of detail. Still, Sutton rescues a crucially important story that raises profound questions regarding the relationship between God and country. Even the missionaries, whose work helped win the war and led to the founding of the CIA, ended their careers wondering whether they had served God or mammon (as the author notes, they "sometimes served their god and the gods of war at the same time")and whether they could ever be trusted again by anyone, even themselves.Scholars will appreciate the thoroughness and lucidity. General readers may want to skim certain sections. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
