Review of "The Secret Surrender," by Allen Dulles

 Review of

The Secret Surrender, by Allen Dulles

Five out of five stars

Solution to a complex problem

 One of the greatest accomplishments of the Second World War was not achieved on the battlefield, but in a secret negotiations. During the war, Allen Dulles was the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) chief in Switzerland. The OSS was the precursor to the CIA. As a neutral country having borders with Germany and Fascist controlled Italy during the war, it was a place where both sides could move and interact relatively freely.

 In the last year of the war as the Allies bloodily moved up the Italian peninsula, it became increasingly clear that Germany was going to be defeated. The questions then took the form of how many would die, how much physical destruction there would be, and which forces would be in control of what territory on the day the war ended.

 Dulles and his team were the intermediaries between Allied commanders, the German commanders in northern Italy and the Italian partisan fighters working against the Germans. Through perseverance, determination, great courage on the part of some German commanders and some incredible luck, a surrender in place of the German forces took place May 2, 1945. This action saved a great deal of death and destruction in northern Italy and kept communist forces from taking control of a large section of Italian territory.

 This is a fascinating book as Dulles explains all of the conflicting forces in play as German power and control began to wane in Northern Italy. Some of the German commanders took great personal risk in their negotiations, there were genuine threats against their person and members of their families. History is replete with colossal failures of the intelligence communities this was one of the incredible successes.