
Wild Bill Donovan
The Spymaster Who Created the OSS and Modern American Espionage
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Narrado por:
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Johnny Heller
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De:
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Douglas Waller
He was one of America's most exciting and secretive generals - the man Franklin Roosevelt made his top spy in World War II. A mythic figure whose legacy is still intensely debated, "Wild Bill" Donovan was director of the Office of Strategic Services (the country's first national intelligence agency) and the father of today's CIA. Donovan introduced the nation to the dark arts of covert warfare on a scale it had never seen before. Now, veteran journalist Douglas Waller has mined government documents and private archives throughout the United States and England, drawn on thousands of pages of recently declassified documents, and interviewed scores of Donovan's relatives, friends, and associates to produce a riveting biography of one of the most powerful men in modern espionage.
The son of poor Irish Catholic parents, William Joseph Donovan married into Protestant wealth and fought heroically in World War I, where he earned the nickname "Wild Bill" for his intense leadership. After the war he made millions as a lawyer on Wall Street until FDR tapped him to be his strategic intelligence chief. A charismatic leader, Donovan was revered by his secret agents. Yet at times he was reckless, risking his life unnecessarily in war zones and engaging in extramarital affairs that became fodder for his political enemies.
Wild Bill Donovan reads like an action-packed spy thriller, with stories of daring young men and women in Donovan's OSS sneaking behind enemy lines for sabotage, breaking into Washington embassies to steal secrets, plotting to topple Adolf Hitler, and suffering brutal torture or death when they were captured by the Gestapo. It is also a tale of political intrigue, of infighting at the highest levels of government, and of powerful men pitted against one another.
©2011 Douglas Waller (P)2011 TantorListeners also enjoyed...




















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I can highly recommend this biography with one minor exception.
My only complaint is that the reader has a pronounced nasal quality which I found very annoying. I wish they had chosen a better reader! Even with that complaint I still recommend the book.
Review of a biography of William Donovan
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Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?
Yes, because I learn that the legend of Bill Donovan is partly true and partly fiction.What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)
Just a wrap up of what happened following his death.Have you listened to any of Johnny Heller’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
NoDo you think Wild Bill Donovan needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?
No follow up needed. The story of the CIA had been told.Any additional comments?
NoneFair story, almost to much detail
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And why the heck is Alexa so stupid that she cannot read at 3/4 speed like my iPad??
Like every war America has ever fought, the rich and or the crooked, have taken advantage of the situation at the expense of the unknown, common soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice.
Most men lead lives of quiet desperation, but eventually even the rich and famous return to dust.
Johnny Heller is a miserable narrator
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Adventure Part 1
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overall great read
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I found some of the book quite interesting, including Donovan's early years and his interactions with J. Edgar Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt. There were long sections that dragged--at least for me--relating to WWII strategies and political infighting. I suspect that these sections would be of more interest to aficionados of WWII familiar with the various characters and strategies influenced by the role of the OSS.
What does come across clearly in this book is a portrait of Donovan as a free-wheeling lawyer and businessman who, either courageously or recklessly, depending on your point of view, but always with total self-confidence, threw himself into the realm of subterfuge in what he believed was the best interests of his country. Indeed, his style is can still often be detected in the modus operandi of today's CIA.
Birth of the Spyworks Industry
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Wide Reach
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His perspicacity, leadership and seat of the pants intelligence are portrayed. His headstrong, pugnacious and competitive nature were both his weaknesses and assets.
I will listen to this narrator read any title on almost any topic.
Warts and all
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An interesting account of War Command in the Battle pf gibberish, not much to be proud of in this account of a good idea soured by WASHINGTON politics.
good but it was no Legacy of Ashes.
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American James Bond
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