Classical Spies: American Archaeologists with the OSS in World War II Greece

Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2013 Book. Near Fine. Hardcover. Signed by Author(s). 1st Pbk Ed... Classical Spies is the first insiders account of the operations of the American intelligence service in World War II Greece. Initiated by archaeologists in Greece and the eastern Mediterranean, the network drew on scholars personal contacts and knowledge of languages and terrain. While modern readers might think Indiana Jones is just a fantasy character, Classical Spies discloses events where even Indy would feel at home: burying Athenian dig records in an Egyptian tomb, activating prep-school connections to establish spies code-named Vulture and Chickadee, and organizing parachute drops.Susan Heuck Allen reveals remarkable details about a remarkable group of individuals. Often mistaken for mild-mannered professors and scholars, such archaeologists as University of Pennsylvanias Rodney Young, Cincinnatis Jack Caskey and Carl Blegen, Yales Jerry Sperling and Dorothy Cox, and Bryn Mawrs Virginia Grace proved their mettle as effective spies in an intriguing game of cat and mouse with their Nazi counterparts. Relying on interviews with individuals sharing their stories for the first time, previously unpublished secret documents, private diaries and letters, and personal photographs, Classical Spies offers an exciting and personal perspective on the history of World War II. 420p.bibliography.index. Author inscription, else fine.