Blowback

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

The postwar recruitment of Nazis and collaborators by agencies of the U.S. government stemmed, the author illustrates, from intense East-West competition after the German surrender, prodded by the prospect of war between the superpowers. Simpson, a freelance journalist, reveals that many covert operations of the early Cold War era involved the use of operatives known to have committed crimes against humanity during the Second World War. The underlying theme here is the corruption of American ideals in connection with this hushed-up recruitment policy in the name of anticommunism. In elaborating the policy's ``negative blowback,'' Simpson emphasizes the long-term corrosive effect on American intelligence agencies in particular. (March)

Library Journal

As the story of Andrija Artukovic, the high-ranking fascist Croatian who found refuge in the United States, and books by John Loftus, Howard Blum, and others tell us, a disgraceful chapter in U.S. Cold War history lies in the systematic use of Nazi and fascist war criminals to help the anti-Soviet aims of American intelligence and national security agencies. Germans and East Europeans were eagerly recruited into and rose to key positions in the Cold War crusade. Simpson's careful researchwhich underscores the part of the Catholic Church and reveals the role of George Kennan in this policyraises profound questions for scholars, lawmakers, and citizens alike. Henry Steck, SUNY Coll. at Cortland