Episode 458: World War II and the Rise of American Intelligence

In the United States, a highly organized intelligence system did not exist before World War II.  Our geographic isolation meant spying on our enemies or our allies was a relatively rare, often haphazard undertaking.  But as Nicholas Reynolds details in his new book, “Need to Know: World War II and the Rise of American Intelligence”, that national restraint gave way during the war to an extraordinary intricate web of spying which, postwar, would grow into our modern intelligence machine. Newt’s guest is Nicholas Reynolds.  He is The New York Times bestselling author of  “Writer, Sailor, Soldier, Spy” and has worked in the fields of modern intelligence and military history for 40 years. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.