This is a terrific tale - and it's all true, proving anew that history trumps even the most vivid fiction. By recovering Roald Dahl, the man at the center of seemingly everything, and placing him and his shadowy work in historical context, Conant has shed fresh light on the complexities and contradictions of the 'special relationship' between Roosevelt and Churchill and their nations. 'With grace and insight and an unerring eye for the telling human detail, Jennet Conant has given us an entertaining and enlightening account of a long-forgotten but essential chapter of the Second World War: the British espionage operations based in Washington during those epic days. All the complexities of friends spying on friends, yet as good a weekend companion as you'll find this year.' - Alan Furst, author of The Spies of Warsaw

Immensely intelligent and entertaining, with a narrative so strongly fashioned it reads, and compels, like the best fiction. 'Jennet Conant's new book is pure pleasure. (Sept.'A fascinating glimpse of the intrigue and spying inside the British-American alliance in wartime Washington.' - Ben Bradlee Most fascinating, though, is Dahl’s relationship with the great British spymaster William Stephenson, otherwise known as “Intrepid.” This all boils down to a thoroughly engrossing story, one Conant tells exceptionally well. ) shows in her eloquent narrative, Dahl’s intriguing coconspirators included future advertising legend David Ogilvy and future spy novelist Ian Fleming. As bestselling author Conant ( Tuxedo Park Dahl’s most important job was to influence public opinion generally and the opinions of Washington’s powerful specifically. However, the U.S.’s attention was focused mainly on the Pacific theater-and such pro-German political figures as Luce and Charles Lindbergh meant to keep it that way.

The United States had technically been at war with Germany since December 1941. assigned by His Majesty’s Government to Washington, D.C., as a diplomat in the spring of 1942, charged with a secret mission? Dahl’s brief was to gather intelligence about America’s isolationist circles (indeed, he infiltrated the infatuated Claire Boothe Luce in more ways than one) and propagandize for prompt American entry into the European war. Richly detailed and carefully researched, Conant’s masterful narrative is based on never-before-seen wartime letters, diaries, and interviews. What could be more intriguing than the young writer Roald Dahl-destined to create such classics as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Better than any spy fiction, The Irregulars is a fascinating, lively account of deceit, double dealing, and moral ambiguityall in the name of victory.

The Irregulars by Jennet Conant