Dark Invasion: 1915 : German's Secret War and the Hunt for the First Terrorist Cell in America

Dark Invasion: 1915: German's Secret War and the Hunt for the First Terrorist Cell in America
by Howard Blum
HarperCollins, 2014.  473 pgs. Nonfiction

While America was still a neutral with regard to World War I, German diplomats turned secret agents mounted a campaign of sabotage against U. S. shipments of goods and arms to Allied forces. Beginning with planting slow-fused bombs on ships and ending with the destruction of the Black Tom munitions depot, German agents did all they could to cut off supplies to their enemies, while trying to avoid drawing America into the fight. Captain Tom Tunney of the NYPD and his small team managed, with some help from the Brits, to expose the German machinations, including an assassination attempt against J. P. Morgan, Jr., and the introduction of anthrax and glanders' bacteria into populations of mules and horses being sent to the front. Blum's thorough and suspenseful treatment of these little-known episodes in American history is a fascinating addition to the wealth of books that are appearing for the Great War's centenary.

LW