Robert L. (tennesseedog) -
This book relates a fascinating and hardly known series of events prior to America's entry into The Great War, ie World War I. The Germans were desperate to keep supplies of all sorts away from the European powers (The Entente) that they were in battle with. The great majority of these supplies came from the United States so it was natural for secret operations in espionage and later sabotage to commence in the North American mainland. This tale of police searches and German attempts to evade detection comprise the meat of the book. It is enjoyable in the reading and is an eyeopener as to how open to foreign influences our country was in the early years of the 20th Century. That would soon change and thank God for it.
As much as I've read about WWI, I didn't know about most of this. Fascinating and well done.
Thomas F. (hardtack) -
A fascinating account of some of the first 'terrorist' attacks on America, including germ warfare, prior to our entry into World War I. This, at a time when we naively believed that such attacks were only committed by crazed individuals, and not nations.
The author has a habit of introducing a chapter with an event, and then quickly switching back days, or even weeks, prior, to discuss what happened leading up to that event. Most of the time this works, but once, despite rereading the chapter, he left me confused about what happened.
For those interested, the main character, New York City Police Captain Thomas Tunney, head of the "bomb squad," wrote a book on his experiences in solving many of these cases. That book was published in 1919.
The author has a habit of introducing a chapter with an event, and then quickly switching back days, or even weeks, prior, to discuss what happened leading up to that event. Most of the time this works, but once, despite rereading the chapter, he left me confused about what happened.
For those interested, the main character, New York City Police Captain Thomas Tunney, head of the "bomb squad," wrote a book on his experiences in solving many of these cases. That book was published in 1919.
