Classical Spies: American Archaeologists with the OSS in World War II Greece (review)

Classical Spies: American Archaeologists with the OSS in World War II Greece, by Susan Heuck Allen, describes the adventures of American male and female members of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens (ASCSA) just before and during their tenure with the Office of Strategic Service (OSS), the precursor to the CIA. The book unfolds in an almost cinematic manner to tell a rather obscure and definitely heretofore relatively unknown chapter of the history of ASCSA, of American secret intelligence, and of the field of archaeology in general. Even though archaeologists and archaeological schools' involvement in espionage during World War II (and earlier) has been confirmed by several scholars' memoirs and other accounts, this is the first detailed and well-documented study of this kind.

Allen, an archaeologist herself, studied under the late John L. Caskey (University of Cincinnati), director of the Lerna and Kea excavations, from whom she drew inspiration for this book. Her professor's narration of an anecdotal World War II spy story, one summer night on the island of Kea, gave Allen the impetus to initiate this research, which lasted for almost a decade. In compiling this comprehensive and thorough account of American archaeologists' secret intelligence activities in World War II-era Greece, she consulted numerous institutional archives, as well as private collections. Fortunately, Allen's research coincided with the declassification of archives and, as a result, she was able to reconstruct events and sketch out the leading figures, engaging in what she describes as an "archival excavation." This study was further enhanced by the memories of people who befriended, are related to, or had worked with the protagonists. These first person accounts attribute to Allen's book its immediacy and freshness.

The book comprises an introduction, fourteen chapters, an epilogue, and four very informative appendices ("Internal Assessment," "Who's Who," "OSS Greek Desk Missions," "OSS Bases and Secret Harbors or Coded Targets"). The first five chapters follow closely the story of Rodney Young, a Princeton graduate and later Professor of Classical Archaeology at the University of Pennsylvania. By narrating his wanderings as a volunteer ambulance driver at the Greek-Albanian front in 1941, his injury and subsequent hospitalization at Evangelismos Hospital in Athens, his return to the United States, and his eventual recruitment by the Foreign Nationalities Branch, the author delineates the events that led up to these scholars' involvement with American intelligence and the efforts to set up the Greek Desk of the OSS. From chapter six onwards, the biography of "the Greek Desk" unfolds. Allen discusses the missions, hardships, and successes of a community of men and women who embarked on an audacious journey from 1942 until 1945. Their stories are supported by historical information, allowing the reader to picture the Mediterranean theater of World War II operations, the alliances, and the pre-Cold War political upheavals. The clear and vivid descriptions of the bold undertakings of this group of archaeologists offer fresh insight and an alternative perspective into major World War II events such as the Battle of Crete (1941), the Greek army's and government's escape to Egypt (1941), the Dodecanese Campaign (1943), and the Dekemvriana events in Athens (1944). Most important, Allen's research reveals female archaeologists' vital part in OSS operations at a time when both archaeology and intelligence work were male-dominated. She concludes her book by briefly citing the post-war whereabouts of Caskey (University of Cincinnati) and Young (University of Pennsylvania), along with Jerome L. Sperling, Dorothy Cox, and Margaret Crosby (all three at Yale University) and Virginia Grace (Bryn Mawr College), among others.

So why do archaeologists make good spies? According to Allen, the skills that archaeologists had developed through excavation and research, along with the experiences and deep understanding of the place and its people that they had acquired while in the field, made them ideal candidates to become secret...