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Suddenly, literature professors, librarians, and historians were training to perform undercover operations and investigative work—and these surprising spies would go on to profoundly shape both the course of the war and our cultural institutions with their efforts. In Book and Dagger , Elyse Graham draws on personal histories, letters, and declassified OSS files to tell the story of a small but connected group of humanities scholars turned spies. Among them are Joseph Curtiss, a literature professor who hunted down German spies and turned them into double agents; Sherman Kent, a smart-mouthed history professor who rose to become the head of analysis for all of Europe and Africa; and Adele Kibre, an archivist who was sent to Stockholm to secretly acquire documents for the OSS. These unforgettable characters would ultimately help lay the foundations of modern intelligence and transform American higher education when they returned after the war. Thrillingly paced and rigorously researched, Book and Dagger is an inspiring and gripping true story about a group of academics who helped beat the Nazis—a tale that reveals the indelible power of the humanities to change the world.","forthcoming":false,"isbn13":"9780063417304","publication_date":"20240924","publisher":"HarperCollins","slug":"book-and-dagger","subtitle":"How Scholars and Librarians Became the Unlikely Spies of World War II","title":"Book and Dagger"},"discovery":{"categories":{"all":[{"bisac_code":"HIS027290","confidence_band":"high","label":"Intelligence & Espionage","score":0.8658,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"HIS027100","confidence_band":"medium","label":"World War II History","score":0.8078,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"HIS027370","confidence_band":"medium","label":"World War II: European Theater","score":0.8048,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"hint":[{"bisac_code":"HIS027290","confidence_band":"high","label":"Intelligence & Espionage","score":0.8658,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"HIS027100","confidence_band":"medium","label":"World War II History","score":0.8078,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"HIS027370","confidence_band":"medium","label":"World War II: European Theater","score":0.8048,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"publisher":[{"bisac_code":"BIO006000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Lives in History","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"BIO019000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Lives in Education","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"EDU015000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Higher Education","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"HIS014000","confidence_band":"high","label":"German History","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"HIS015070","confidence_band":"high","label":"20th-Century Britain","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"HIS027100","confidence_band":"high","label":"World War II History","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"HIS027290","confidence_band":"high","label":"Intelligence & Espionage","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"HIS036010","confidence_band":"high","label":"U.S. State & Local History","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"}]},"genres":[{"label":"Intelligence & Espionage","score":0.8658,"slug":"intelligence-espionage"},{"label":"World War II History","score":0.8078,"slug":"world-war-ii-history"},{"label":"World War II: European Theater","score":0.8048,"slug":"world-war-ii-european-theater"}],"reader_fit":["Good for readers who enjoy Intelligence & Espionage","Good for readers interested in military","Good for fans of History"],"related_lists":[{"intro":"","slug":"shelf-his027100-world-war-ii","title":"World War Ii Books","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/lists/shelf-his027100-world-war-ii"},{"intro":"","slug":"shelf-his027370-european-theater","title":"European Theater Books","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/lists/shelf-his027370-european-theater"}],"series":null,"similar_books":[{"authors":["Ben Macintyre"],"book_id":"9780307453280","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780307453280.jpg?v=20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset%3A2026-04-05T10%3A13%3A18Z","score":19.698,"title":"Operation Mincemeat","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780307453280"},{"authors":["Rick Beyer","Elizabeth Sayles"],"book_id":"9781797225296","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781797225296.jpg?v=20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset%3A2026-04-05T10%3A13%3A18Z","score":19.6033,"title":"The Ghost Army of World War II","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781797225296"},{"authors":["James Holland","Keith Burns"],"book_id":"9780241601327","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780241601327.jpg?v=20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset%3A2026-04-05T10%3A13%3A18Z","score":19.1243,"title":"The Second World War","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780241601327"},{"authors":["Ian Toll","P.J. 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