Armies of Spies (1939)

"Is There Such a Thing as a Small Malignant Growth?":
First Edition of Joseph Gollomb's Armies of Spies, 1939

Gollomb, Joseph. Armies of Spies. New York: Macmillan, 1939.

Octavo. Hardcover. 1st Edition.

First edition of this well-researched book on 20th-century changes in spycraft, published on the eve of the Second World War. Armies of Spies was written by Joseph Gollomb, an American journalist and screenwriter of Russian-Jewish descent. Gollomb used his journalistic know-how to investigate the issue of spying just before the outbreak of World War II. Armies of Spies addresses the massive increase in nation-sponsored spying during the 20th century in locations including Franco's Spain, Russia, and, of course, the Third Reich. Gollomb tracks the growth of Fifth Columns in peaceful countries, as well as the new methodology of spying (infiltration, agitation, and sabotage). Prescient and important, this book uses government archives and on-the-ground investigation to produce theories of spying that would accurately predict spying tactics during the Second World War. Book with only slight soiling to last few leaves, dust jacket with slight soiling to rear panel and light wear and toning to extremities. A near-fine copy.