Mata Hari known by her nom d’espionage,rn”Cynthia.” In her biography ofrnCynthia, Cast No Shadow, Mary Lovellrnrelates that both Vandenberg and SenatorrnConnally were targeted for seduction;rnwhile Connally told Cynthia, “You’rernwasting your time, my dear,” Vandenbergrnwas easier prey.rnYet another of Vandenberg’s BSC romancesrnwas with Eveline Paterson, arncharming, statuesque blonde and a professionalrnpublicist for the cause of CreatrnBritain: Chicago Tribune Washingtonrnbureau chief Walter Trohan, the FBI,rnand Drew Pearson all had her correctlyrnpegged as a British intelligence operative.rnAs an “agent of influence,” Eveline’srnsuccess can be measured by thernsenator’s 1946 vote for loans to Britainrnand legislation forgiving British warrndebts. Mrs. Paterson’s scrapbook containsrna number of Vandenberg items,rnamong them an article from the April 30,rn1945, issue of Time, which featured thernsenator’s picture on the cover. The articlernpraised him in his new role as chief ofrnthe Republican internationalists. ThernOffice of Naval Intelligence also kept arnfile on Vandenberg’s dalliances with foreignrnagents. In his memoirs, Walter Trohanrnrelates how, at the 1948 Republicanrnconvention, where Vandenberg was arnmajor contender for the nomination,rnJoseph Pew, head of the Sun Oil Companyrnand a heavyweight contributor tornpartv coffers, somehow got his hands onrna copy of the ONI file. Pew threatenedrnto take to the floor and read aloud thernsordid details of Vandenberg’s betrayal.rnToo bad Pew was dissuaded from doingrnso. If only he had revealed the lasciviousrndetails of Vandenberg’s treason:rnA House in Milornby Robert Beumrn1rnCherry and maplerncarved from the sun and climbingrnin the fime of hands —rnwe woke there climbingrninto the past sHll morningrncherry and maple,rna child’s play of yearsrnin rooms above everythingrntoo low for morning.rnCherry and maplernturret and gable childrenrnask about who carved,rngrow into the handsrnthat could hold such morning, wearrninto stories, fallrnto those fresh ruinsrnanother sim to wake to,rnall finders keepers.rnSuch a bombshell might have blown therncover of the fifth columnists in our midst,rnand exposed the truth about the internationalistrnRepublicans. If Pew had takenrnto the microphone, Wendell Willkiernmight have remained in the obscurityrnfrom which he was plucked.rnHow an imknown lawyer for J.P. Morganrn& Co., without having held any previousrnpolitical office, and without evenrnbeing a registered Republican, couldrncome to be the GOP presidential nomineernis a mystery pondered long and oftenrnby conservative commentators over thernyears. In her classic book A Choice, Notrnan Echo, Phyllis Schlafly attributesrnWillkie’s nominafion to the decision ofrnthe “secret kingmakers” and mentionsrnthe influential role played by Lord Lothian,rnthe British ainbassador, and ThomasrnW. Lamont, the chief enforcer of Morganrninterests. With the New York HeraldrnTribune as his house organ, and WallrnStreet putting heavy pressure on the delegates,rnthe dark horse Willkie stampededrnthe isolationist conservatives before theyrnknew what hit them. Mahl shows thatrnthe “secret kingmakers” were nothing sornvague as the “Eastern Establishment,”rnand he amasses considerable evidencernthat British intelligence was directly involved.rnApart from re-electing FDR, thernBSC was working to ensure congressionalrnapproval of conscription and of a dealrngiving the British a part of the Americanrnfleet. These were the “secret kingmakers,”rnor, as Schlafly calls them, the “hiddenrnpersuaders,” who reached into thernbag of dirty tricks —possibly includingrnmurder, as Mahl tantalizingly speculatesrn— all too familiar to students of intelligencernhistorv’.rnIt is not an unusual view that identifiesrnthe Roosevelt administration, an Anglophilicrnelite, and the Rockefeller-Morganrnfinancial interests as the three groupsrnwhose agitation eventually dragged a reluctantrnnation into World War II.rnMahl’s great contribution is to identifyrnthe BSC as the puppet-master behindrnAmerican interventionism. What thernauthor of this invaluable volume callsrn”intelligence history” has not been consideredrn”respectable” precisely becausernit penetrates the propagandistic pietiesrnpromulgated by the court historians andrnexposes the ruthlessness and utterrnimmorality of ruling elites. This is notrn”intelligence history,” but real historyrnwithout illusions, if not without regrets.rn26/CHRONilCLESrnrnrn