Book review by David A. Hollinger, historian at the University of California at Berkeley
Eddy is one of four deeply religious American Protestants who are the subjects of Matthew Avery Sutton’s arresting and informative book, “Double Crossed: The Missionaries Who Spied for the United States During the Second World War.” All served in the OSS, the World War II predecessor to the Central Intelligence Agency. Sutton. professor and chair of history at WSU, adds to our understanding of the clandestine services by revealing the little-known role of missionaries in these operations.
Sutton skillfully juxtaposes his four stories, revealing the actions of each figure throughout the war and its aftermath. We see Birch dodging bullets in China while Eddy was translating for President Franklin Roosevelt and the Saudi king at a meeting aboard a warship in the Red Sea. “Double Crossed” is a great read and a fresh, archive-intensive contribution to our understanding of American intelligence during World War II.
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