Douglas Waller is a former correspondent for Newsweek and Time, where he covered the CIA, Pentagon, State Department, White House, and Congress. He is the author of the bestsellers Wild Bill Donovan, Big Red and The Commandos, as well as critically acclaimed works such as Disciples, the story of four CIA directors who fought for Donovan in World War II, and A Question of Loyalty, a biography of General Billy Mitchell. He lives in Raleigh, North Carolina.
" Exhaustively researched but not exhaustingly written, this will
probably stand as the definitive biography of a seminal figure in
the history of American intelligence." --Booklist
"Whether fighting on the battlefield during World War I, leading
the OSS during World War II, or prosecuting Nazi war criminals at
Nuremberg, William Donovan's service to his country was historic
and extraordinary. In Wild Bill Donovan, Douglas C. Waller's
impressive research and riveting writing bring the 'Father of
American Intelligence' to life, drawing the reader into one of the
most thrilling and remarkable periods in American history." --Lee
H. Hamilton, former Chairman, House Permanent Select Committee on
Intelligence
"Wild Bill Donovan, the founding father of American espionage,
jumps off the page in Douglas Waller's superb biography of one of
the nation's most important and least understood leaders of the
20th Century. Waller marvelously evokes an era when a matinee-idol
character like Donovan could turn Washington into his own secret
playground even as he ended America's naivete about the necessity
of stealing the secrets of other gentlemen. Waller takes us back to
a time, long before bureaucratic sclerosis set in at the Central
Intelligence Agency, when American spies lived in technicolor."
-- James Risen, author of State of War: The Secret History of the
CIA and the Bush Administration
"An extraordinary portrait of an extraordinary figure in 20th
century American history, a man beyond the power of fiction to
invent. Wild Bill Donovan is brilliantly researched and beautifully
told, as evocative and enlightening as it is entertaining."
--Rick Atkinson, author of An Army at Dawn and The Day of
Battle
"Douglas Waller gives us the definitive portrait of the
fascinating, creative, disorganized, brave man who--starting from
nothing during our biggest war--created our modern capacity for
human intelligence and covert operations. A must for all who would
understand American intelligence."
--R. James Woolsey, Chair, Woolsey Partners, LLC and Director of
Central Intelligence, 1993-1995
"Drawing on government documents and the interviews conducted with
Donovan's relatives and friends, Waller delivers a rollicking read
that uncovers the myths surrounding one of America's greatest
legends."--The Daily Beast
"In a time when espionage consists largely of technicians in
windowless rooms, far from the battlefield, collecting signals and
pictures from satellites and drones, it is both refreshing and
fascinating to read Doug Waller's story of the man behind World War
II's spy organization, the OSS. Long before there was a CIA, there
was Major General "Wild Bill" Donovan, and Waller's extensively
researched and highly entertaining book takes the reader back to
the days when spying meant sending dedicated agents behind enemy
lines to risk their lives to steal secrets and help win the
war."
--James Bamford, bestselling author of Body of Secrets and The
Shadow Factory
"In this fast-paced, entertaining and engrossing biography, the
author delivers a portrait of a hard-driving, Type A extrovert
willing to take on political enemies...A well-calibrated assessment
of Donovan and the impact of the OSS on the war...The book is
replete with fascinating anecdotes ...and tales of derring-do."" --
the Associated Press
In Wild Bill Donovan, Douglas Waller brings the larger than life
William J. Donovan - a World War I Medal of Honor winner, Office of
Strategic Services founder, CIA architect, and one of the 20th
century's most compelling figures - to life. Waller's impressive
skill as a journalist, his expertise about the U.S. intelligence
community, and a remarkable writing ability complement one another
in this fascinating and insightful portrait of Donovan the man, not
the myth, and enhances our appreciation of his remarkable legacy.
General Donovan attributed much of the success of the Office of
Strategic Services to "good old fashioned intellectual sweat." This
informative, enjoyable, and important book deserves the same
compliment.
--Charles Pinck, President, The OSS Society, Inc.
"[A] superb, dramatic yet scholarly biography...For anyone
interested in the history of American intelligence, it is required
reading." --The Virginian Pilot
"As [Waller] amply shows, Donovan was a combination of bold
innovator and imprudent rule bender, which made him not only a
remarkable wartime leader but also an extraordinary figure in
American history." --The International Herald Tribune
"Contemporary history is seldom as relevant and engaging as Douglas
Waller's new biography, Wild Bill Donovan: The Spymaster Who
Created the OSS and Modern American Espionage, which is -- by turns
-- fascinatingly instructive and thoroughly entertaining." --L.A.
Times
"Entertaining history...As [Waller] amply shows, Donovan was a
combination of bold innovator and imprudent rule bender, which made
him not only a remarkable wartime leader but also an extraordinary
figure in American history."--The New York Times Book Review
"Like a skilled writer, he weaves story lines into the facts and
provides tantalizing tidbits for the reader to digest...Such
revelations added welcome seasoning to Waller's work and to
Donovan's life." --Buffalo News
"The fascinating story of the colorful and combative native of
Buffalo's First Ward who became America's first spymaster."
--Ithaca Journal
"This superb, dramatic yet scholarly biography, tells a great deal
about the man who built a far-flung intelligence organization from
scratch in the midst of World War II." --The Washington Post
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