Double Crossed

What makes a good missionary makes a good American spy, or so thought Office of Special Services (OSS) founder "Wild" Bill Donovan when he recruited religious activists into the first ranks of American espionage. Called upon to serve Uncle Sam, Donovan's recruits saw the war as a means of expanding their godly mission, believing an American victory would guarantee the safety of their fellow missionaries and their coreligionists abroad.

Drawing on never-before-seen archival materials, acclaimed historian Matthew Sutton shows how religious activists proved to be true believers in Franklin Roosevelt's crusade for global freedom of religion. Sutton focuses on William Eddy, a warrior for Protestantism who was fluent in Arabic; Stewart Herman, a young Lutheran minister rounded up by the Nazis while pastoring in Berlin; Stephen B. L. Penrose, Jr., who left his directorship over missionary schools in the Middle East to join the military rank and file; and John Birch, a fundamentalist missionary in China. Donovan chose these men because they already had the requisite skills for good intelligence analysis, espionage, and covert operations, skills that allowed them to seamlessly blend into different environments. Working for eternal rewards rather than temporal spoils, they proved willing to sacrifice and even to die for their country during the conflict, becoming some of the United States' most loyal secret soldiers.

Acutely aware of how their actions conflicted with their spiritual calling, these spies nevertheless ran covert operations in the centers of global religious power, including Mecca, the Vatican, and Palestine. In the end, they played an outsized role in leading the US to victory in WWII: Eddy laid the groundwork for the Allied invasion of North Africa, while Birch led guerilla attacks against the Japanese and, eventually, Chinese Communists. After the war, some of them -- those who survived -- helped launch the Central Intelligence Agency, so that their nation, and American Christianity, could maintain a strong presence throughout the rest of the world.

Surprising and absorbing at every turn, Double Crossedis an untold story of World War II spycraft and a profound account of the compromises and doubts that war forces on those who wage it.

“"Deeply-researched and engagingly written, Matthew Sutton's Double Crossed fills a gap in the literatures on 20th century secret-intelligence and the Second World War. Shinning a light on the cross-and-dagger intrigues of Protestant missionaries who spied against the Axis, Sutton shows how they helped lay some of the moral and even diplomatic foundations for what we now call globalization. This is both an adventure story and an important contribution to the emerging study of religion as a handmaiden of 20th-century secular power."-- Mark Riebling , author of Church of Spies: The Pope's Secret War Against Hitler”

"Double Crossed tells an astonishing and heretofore unknown story of the Christian missionaries and religious activists who doubled as American spies during World War II. Although their wartime scheming often conflicted with their religious principles, the work of the four men profiled here -- whose covert operations ranged from Europe to China and across the Middle East -- was absolutely critical to the success of U.S. military strategy and diplomacy, and it built the edifice for religious collaboration with espionage that, for better or worse, persists in the CIA to this day. Matthew Sutton has written a deeply researched, captivating, and indispensable contribution to our understanding of the role of religion in the history of American spycraft."--Marie Griffith, author of Moral Combat: How Sex Divided American Christians and Fractured American Politics
"A marvelous book about the holy spooks of World War II: the missionaries who toiled in secret and to considerable effect in the U.S. intelligence effort, convinced they were advancing both God's and America's cause. Matthew Sutton is a generous, discerning historian, and he succeeds splendidly in bringing this little-known story to life."--Fredrik Logevall, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Embers of War: The Fall of an Empire and the Making of America's Vietnam
"Arresting and informative.... Double Crossed is a great read and a fresh, archive-intensive contribution to our understanding of American intelligence during World War II."--Washington Post
"Deeply-researched and engagingly written, Matthew Sutton's Double Crossed fills a gap in the literatures on 20th century secret-intelligence and the Second World War. Shinning a light on the cross-and-dagger intrigues of Protestant missionaries who spied against the Axis, Sutton shows how they helped lay some of the moral and even diplomatic foundations for what we now call globalization. This is both an adventure story and an important contribution to the emerging study of religion as a handmaiden of 20th-century secular power."--Mark Riebling, author of Church of Spies: The Pope's Secret War Against Hitler
"In a thrilling and remarkably original narrative, Matthew Avery Sutton explains the critical part missionaries played in American espionage during what was, for them, a holy war to save Christian civilization. For anyone who cares about the history of religion or the Second World War, this fine book will be a revelation."--Michael Kazin, author of War Against War: The American Fight for Peace, 1914-1918
"In this absorbing book, Matthew Sutton skillfully and effortlessly guides his reader through the life-and-death clandestine operations of the United States' missionary-spies: bible-believing spooks who, during WWII, grappled internally with the contradictions of faith and violence, deep love of family, and patriotic duty but who never shied away from advancing the Allied cause -- no matter the cost. Double Crossed is an authoritative and highly revealing account of a (purposely) hidden facet of church-state collusion in modern America."--Darren Dochuk, author of Anointed With Oil: How Christianity and Crude Made Modern America
"In this brilliant book, Matthew Avery Sutton has recovered the long-hidden history of Americans who blurred the line between religious missions and secret missions in the Second World War. Rooted in painstaking research and written with powerful prose, Double Crossed is a must-read."--Kevin M. Kruse, author of One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America
"Matthew Sutton shows in this lively and fascinating book, the road from preaching the gospel to learning the dark arts of spy- craft was mapped out by Reinhold Niebuhr's theory that, Jesus's teachings aside, in a fallen world, state-sanctioned violence can be justified to destroy regimes."--Times Literary Supplement
"Not only a profound history of American Christian missions but also one of the most original and interesting histories of World War II in several decades."--Christianity Today
"Recommended for scholars of World War II and religious history, and the history of espionage, as well as general readers interested in the intersection of American history and Christianity."--Library Journal
"Sutton covers new territory in his interesting endeavor, as the work of the four has largely been secret until now. Readers will be fascinated by his revelations."--Booklist
"Sutton's research is impressive, his writing is clear, and his account is exhaustive.... Sutton rescues a crucially important story that raises profound questions regarding the relationship between God and country."--Kirkus
"This provocative book illuminates little-discussed history and raises larger philosophical questions. It is an unusually fresh and intelligent addition to WWII literature."--Publishers Weekly

Matthew Avery Sutton is Edward R. Meyer distinguished professor of history at Washington State University. The author of award-winning books, including American Apocalypse, he lives in Pullman, Washington.

What makes a good missionary makes a good American spy, or so thought Office of Special Services (OSS) founder "Wild" Bill Donovan when he recruited religious activists into the first ranks of American espionage. Called upon to serve Uncle Sam, Donovan's recruits saw the war as a means of expanding their godly mission, believing an American victory would guarantee the safety of their fellow missionaries and their coreligionists abroad.Drawing on never-before-seen archival materials, acclaimed historian Matthew Sutton shows how religious activists proved to be true believers in Franklin Roosevelt's crusade for global freedom of religion. Sutton focuses on William Eddy, a warrior for Protestantism who was fluent in Arabic; Stewart Herman, a young Lutheran minister rounded up by the Nazis while pastoring in Berlin; Stephen B. L. Penrose, Jr., who left his directorship over missionary schools in the Middle East to join the military rank and file; and John Birch, a fundamentalist missionary in China. Donovan chose these men because they already had the requisite skills for good intelligence analysis, espionage, and covert operations, skills that allowed them to seamlessly blend into different environments. Working for eternal rewards rather than temporal spoils, they proved willing to sacrifice and even to die for their country during the conflict, becoming some of the United States' most loyal secret soldiers.Acutely aware of how their actions conflicted with their spiritual calling, these spies nevertheless ran covert operations in the centers of global religious power, including Mecca, the Vatican, and Palestine. In the end, they played an outsized role in leading the US to victory in WWII: Eddy laid the groundwork for the Allied invasion of North Africa, while Birch led guerilla attacks against the Japanese and, eventually, Chinese Communists. After the war, some of them -- those who survived -- helped launch the Central Intelligence Agency, so that their nation, and American Christianity, could maintain a strong presence throughout the rest of the world.Surprising and absorbing at every turn, Double Crossed is an untold story of World War II spycraft and a profound account of the compromises and doubts that war forces on those who wage it.

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