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You're Stepping on My Cloak and Dagger
With a sharp eye and wry wit, Roger Hall recounts here his experiences as an American Army officer assigned to the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) during World War II. First published in 1957 to critical and popular acclaim, his memoir has become a cult favorite in intelligence circles. He chronicles his experiences from his time as a junior officer fleeing a tedious training assignment in Louisiana to his rigorous OSS training rituals in the United States, England, and Scotland for its Special Operations unit. Quick to pick up on the skills necessary for behind-the-lines intelligence work, Hall became an expert instructor, but was only reluctantly given operational duties because of his reputation as an iconoclast. In his droll storytelling style, Hall describes his first parachute jump in support of the French resistance as a comedy of errors that terminated prematurely. His last assignment in the war zone came when then Capt. William Colby, the future head of the CIA, handpicked him to lead the second section of a Norwegian special operations group into Norway via Sweden.
220 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1957
41 people are currently reading
596 people want to read
About the author
Roger Hall
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 65 reviews
May 9, 2013
Have adored this book since I was twelve and read it the first time. World War II with a funny bone and a look at the OSS. Wish they'd make this a movie. If you enjoy the behind the scenes where it isn't all perfect, this is a wonderful book
September 22, 2014
This book is why the CIA now has a rule requiring pre-clearance for any former employee's writing. It's the story of a US Army paratrooper who accepts an unknown but dangerous classified assignment, in order to escape his Stateside instructor job, and winds up in the OSS, circa 1943. But it's written in the driest, most sardonic style possible. And helped by Keystone-cop misadventures, drinking contests and some time with then Major Colby. Plus -- legendary scenes -- a training exercise to, uh, penetrate, a local war production factory, and a wrong-way first OSS jump into France.
Were it not for the fact that Hall didn't publish the thing until 1957, I would have said it single-handily was the reason Truman shuttered the OSS. Not quite M*A*S*H (the book, I mean) but similar. Read this book, if only for the occasional laugh-out-loud moments.
Were it not for the fact that Hall didn't publish the thing until 1957, I would have said it single-handily was the reason Truman shuttered the OSS. Not quite M*A*S*H (the book, I mean) but similar. Read this book, if only for the occasional laugh-out-loud moments.
August 16, 2009
Entertaining, but ultimately disappointing. This memoir of an early OSS officer was heavy on the drinking, carousing, and camaraderie, but short on the actual cloak and dagger, since Lt. Hall only found himself in Europe after the War was over. Perhaps the best part was his description of a training operation in which he had to infiltrate a war-related factory in Philadelphia.
Overall, not sad to've read it, but wish I'd known what to expect going in.
Overall, not sad to've read it, but wish I'd known what to expect going in.
September 9, 2012
Recently resurrected, hilarious memoir about one of the pioneers of the U.S. Special Forces. Hall is a solid humorist, who happens to have been one tough, smart, and fearless dude who had very little time for authority. Reading his tales of being trained as a special forces paratrooper and getting sent into WWII goes way beyond mere military fascination. He calls out the idiots and the idiocy that he encountered, all in subversive, sarcastic fashion. Anyone who loves dry, gallows humor can appreciate this book. Such things are funny enough in a fictitious tale, but Hall's are the real deal. Since he survived them all, it's easy to laugh at the way he struts his way through ridiculous and dangerous situations, thrusting his middle fingers out most of the way.
December 12, 2024
Short, easy, and fun to read. I laughed out loud at almost every chapter. I recommend to everyone.
January 9, 2025
One of the funniest books I've read in a long time, on the level with reading Pratchett. Even though the tone is light and ironic throughout, there are some heart-wrenching and nervous moments*, which Roger Hall also does as easily as he does the irony.
* When he's getting ready to finally deploy, I was getting nervous for him, despite knowing that it was autobiographical, so he would survive...
* When he's getting ready to finally deploy, I was getting nervous for him, despite knowing that it was autobiographical, so he would survive...
July 1, 2018
Roger Hall's book is still widely viewed as one of the best overviews of what the OSS really was like in WWII, at least compared to any of the other books from participants. In part the others were usually either focused on a single operation or theater or, alternatively, structured to make the case for a peacetime intelligence organization. Hall, on the other hand, tells you sequentially about his assignments to prepare himself and others for one intelligence activity after another -- which almost always gets cancelled as the war moves on -- so that he winds up talking about almost everything the organization did from a very personal perspective. And it is ROTFL funny, partly from his style and partly from the events, without ever letting you doubt that the work itself was important and deadly serious. I quote lines from this book even though I read it decades ago.
December 2, 2008
A highly amusing tale of the author's adventures in the OSS during World War II. The book is well written and very entertaining, and gives a slightly irreverent but very interesting view into the life of a spook. The most interesting parts were actually the stories of their training exercises and the misadventures that they had. I expected the book to pick up a little in intensity when he actually got to the war, but that part of the book turned out to be somewhat anti-climactic for reasons that will become clear if you read it.
May 17, 2013
A well written, humorous, occasionally hilarious account of one man's story of his time as an OSS agent during WW-II. It was a quick, enjoyable read -- quick in part because it's not all that long and is in an easy-to-read style, but also because it was hard to put down.
October 29, 2023
Yesterday there was very little to do at work and so I finished "You're Stepping on My Cloak and Dagger" by Roger Hall (1957) in a single day! It's about Hall's experience with joining the OSS in WWII, from the orders to report for training to being discharged at the war's end. Hall hardly lets a paragraph go by that doesn't drip with sardonic wit and the overall effect is that the book is more of a comedy than anything. That said, his descriptions of jump school (first American, then British) do convey the seriousness inherent in jumping out of planes and the chapter about his first jump into occupied Europe really stood out as one of the most chilling descriptions of what it's like for a young man to prepare to step into Hell with no backup besides the gun that you carry.
This one is very well-written and readable and I don't think you'd even have to be a history buff to enjoy it, though an irreverent sense of humor is a must to truly appreciate all the jabs being taken at what ought to otherwise be a serious situation.
This one is very well-written and readable and I don't think you'd even have to be a history buff to enjoy it, though an irreverent sense of humor is a must to truly appreciate all the jabs being taken at what ought to otherwise be a serious situation.
September 24, 2024
I had to organise my library to borrow this from somewhere else. Turns out they had to get it all the way from UC Berkeley. Talk about a hard book to find. Having said that, I just found am original copy after looking for about 9 months so that's good.
A genuinely funny, well written account is Roger Hall's fascinating journey in the OSS. Made me laugh out loud pretty regularly. Special Operations in WWII is one of my favourite historical topics because of insights like these. Singularly interesting. The groups were made up of bankers, teachers, graduates, bakers... Everyone, all together to smash Nazis. What more could you want?
Roger Hall's experience was disappointing in its own way. Forced to train and then train others, he missed a number of opportunities to deploy into combat, outside a brief stint accepting surrenders from Germans in Norway. But he writes so well and just oozes personality. The kind of writer who I just want to find everything from and read it.
I really wish he wrote more on the war and the OSS. Could have read double this book.
A genuinely funny, well written account is Roger Hall's fascinating journey in the OSS. Made me laugh out loud pretty regularly. Special Operations in WWII is one of my favourite historical topics because of insights like these. Singularly interesting. The groups were made up of bankers, teachers, graduates, bakers... Everyone, all together to smash Nazis. What more could you want?
Roger Hall's experience was disappointing in its own way. Forced to train and then train others, he missed a number of opportunities to deploy into combat, outside a brief stint accepting surrenders from Germans in Norway. But he writes so well and just oozes personality. The kind of writer who I just want to find everything from and read it.
I really wish he wrote more on the war and the OSS. Could have read double this book.
March 10, 2018
A wonderful, though sometimes painfully dated, account of the creation and demise of the OSS, punctuated with terrific anecdotes about life in a hectic, disorganized army. With insight into the strange, secretive workings of different branches and groups, as well as a view of allies (and even a brief encounter with a German soldier after Germany's surrender), the author paints a believable, entertaining story which is frequently hilarious, sometimes sobering, and relentlessly entertaining. Students of American war history will find much of interest, but fans of good storytelling of any kind will not be disappointed by the characters and caricatures painted by someone who lived it.
February 2, 2022
I read this book back in high school at the recommendation of a class mate. We both thought it was the funniest thing we had ever read. It's about the formation of the OSS (office of strategic services) during WWII. It's told by the author, who was part of the original group. He tells it with a humorous tone and yet gives a fascinating, thorough description of the organization and what they did for the U.S. during the war. Not as funny as I thought I remembered but still an entertaining read.
I thought about it again now after 60 Minutes did a story about the Richie Boys who were German-American Jews recruited to go into Germany during WWII to conduct espionage and interrogation.
I thought about it again now after 60 Minutes did a story about the Richie Boys who were German-American Jews recruited to go into Germany during WWII to conduct espionage and interrogation.
February 28, 2019
While my enjoyment of the book probably suffered a bit from having been finished in the hospital after surgery, making it seem more low-key funny than the laugh out loud funny others have described it as, it is an amusing memoir of a man who was big scale lucky in his wartime service through being small scale unlucky. (In the sense that he made it through the war in one piece, despite the constant possibility of being sent into great danger.)
War does not seem like a terribly well-ordered thing, at least from the point of view of those fighting it - or trying to.
War does not seem like a terribly well-ordered thing, at least from the point of view of those fighting it - or trying to.
June 15, 2019
I absolutely LOVED this book. It was easy to read and laugh out loud wet your pants funny. This guy and his friends must have really been some characters and I would have liked to meet them. Well written and never boring this book takes a hilarious but no less serious look at WWII. How can something be hilarious but no less serious? Well, you will just have to read this jewel of an opus and find out.
I highly recommend this book.
I highly recommend this book.
April 2, 2023
A very interesting memoir about the last days of the OSS. The author never saw action, in the combat sense, but reading about all the training he went through was interesting. The lack of combat does not take away from Hall's adventures. This book was mentioned in another, much more serious book, that I read about the OSS.
June 15, 2023
This is, in a word, quite fun, and many parts were funny. Just the title alone sets the tone as we follow young Roger through getting assigned to OSS and his constantly futile attempts to get assigned to a mission overseas. Hall is a very good storyteller, and the sardonic humor was great. Some scenes (like Philadelphia) were hysterical to me, and others were just plain interesting from a "history of WWII" sense. It's definitely got some understandably outdated depictions of men and women, but if you can look past that (which is a very small percentage of the book), you might enjoy this.
August 1, 2020
Hilarious
This book is one of the funniest things I’ve read in a really long time. It’s full of all sorts or crazy antics that just happen to place inside an intelligence agency throughout the duration of WW2.
This book is one of the funniest things I’ve read in a really long time. It’s full of all sorts or crazy antics that just happen to place inside an intelligence agency throughout the duration of WW2.
August 2, 2021
Roger Hall’s fascinating and hilarious account of working in the O.S.S. during WW2. His adventures took him from America to England, France, Scotland and Norway. A laugh on almost every page. I’m surprised this book has never been made into a film, it could be a brilliantly funny comedy.
August 22, 2022
I had such high hopes for this. Dad talked it up so much that I expected it to be the funniest book ever. Different generation, different sense of humor. It was good, but I didn't feel motivated to pick it up and read. Took far too long to get through it.
October 7, 2024
Very humorous and irreverent, with great narration. If there’s a feel good book about WWII, it’s this one. My only complaint is there is little to no actual action in the book, but it is enjoyable nonetheless
March 1, 2025
A 3*+ rounded up to 4* as I have never encountered a book quite like it.
It was amusing, informative(ish) and written in a very approachable style.
A very easy read and some VERY funny moments within.
It was amusing, informative(ish) and written in a very approachable style.
A very easy read and some VERY funny moments within.
September 11, 2018
Very funny. I feel like my brother and my dad would both appreciate this book.
May 28, 2019
Absolutely "laugh out loud" witty.
February 26, 2020
Great read! An inside look at the early days of the OSS, told tongue in cheek!
January 17, 2021
A cracking set of ripping yarns
Everything you never knew you wanted to know about the O.S.S., the wartime precursor to the C.I.A.
A fun read😁
Everything you never knew you wanted to know about the O.S.S., the wartime precursor to the C.I.A.
A fun read😁
February 10, 2021
It was a fun read. Too much of a build up to very little historical relevance.
May 16, 2021
Read this book in high school and loved every line of it. Have read it several times again over the decades. Interesting, informative and funny all at once.
Read
March 8, 2022War can be funny.
June 11, 2023
The Narration of audio really stands out. Makes the it superior to the original written version
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