In Wild Bill Donovan (2011), Douglas Waller tells the story of the Buffalo native who help create and oversee most of the nation’s espionage activities during World War II.
Donovan was quite a character. A World War I hero, he ran for Governor of New York in 1932 and lost. He was a Republican who opposed the New Deal, but was appointed by FDR to head the Office of Strategic Services(the predecessor of the CIA). While he was denied the ability to lead the CIA (by J. Edgar Hoover, among others), his vision for the CIA ultimately came to fruition.
A fascinating tale of an under-appreciated American hero.
Read the New York Times review.