Book Reviewed: Agents of Influence: A British Campaign, a Canadian Spy, and the Secret Plot to Bring America into World War II, by Henry Hemming

Fake news, disinformation and World War II

Disinformation is as old as humanity. Although the rise of social media has made disinformation even more pervasive and pernicious, but news-outlets and diplomatic channels have always used the system to manipulate the political outcome. In this decade terrorist organization like ISIS and Russian government used the same playbook: ISIS sought to globalize Islam and Putin wanted to influence the outcome of 2016 presidential elections in the United States.

During WW II it was imperative for German and British to serenade the support of United States. With Britain enduring intense German bombing, its only hope for survival was getting the United States to enter the war with only 7% in favoring in 1940. For British spy agency MI6 operative William Stephenson, it was crucial to get U.S involved. President Franklin Roosevelt’s sent Ambassador Bill Donovan to communicate with British government. The American political atmosphere was not conducive for British. American leaders like Charles Lindbergh was one of the main obstacles. Lindbergh, who addressed huge crowds at anti-war rallies and justified Nazi aggression due to economic imbalance. He was fed wrong information by German spy machinery. But William Stephenson managed to get full confidence of Bill Donovan who together built an extensive propaganda drive ever directed by one sovereign state at another. They also used forgeries, organized protests, and wiretaps and hacked into private communications. Similar strategies were used by CRP, the Committee to Reelect the President during Nixon administration.

On Oct. 27, 1941, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt took the stage at The Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC, to speak in honor of Navy Day. With Britain under Nazi siege, Roosevelt wanted the United States to join the fight. The American public was not convinced. “I have in my possession a secret map made by Hitler’s government. It is a map of South America and part of Central America, as Hitler proposes to reorganize it,” Roosevelt told the shocked assemblage. The president then revealed another German document that pledged to eliminate the world’s religions. The reaction was explosive, but the facts were not.

Hans Thomsen, the senior diplomat at the German Embassy in the U.S. was also active in keeping Americans out of WWII. He fed pro-German material to sitting members of Congress, and bribed newspapers to publish false material.

The book is well researched and referenced; it is engaging for readers interested in the history of WWII. The story flows well but the role played by German spy agency in creating their own misinformation has not been well documented.