In Time of War: The Architecture of John McAslan & Partners

by Pierce O'Donnell

It's a true story that reads like gripping fiction: in June 1942, eight German terrorists landed by submarine on the shores of Long Island and Florida with a mission to blow up major buildings and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1565849582
• ISBN13: 9781565849587
• Release Date: June 2005
• Publisher: New Press
• Length: 444 Pages
• Weight: 2.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.6" x 6.5" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

Hitler's Attack

This book gives a fascinating account of a critical event in WW II history. You can't read this book without changing your view of FDR and J. Edgar Hoover. Colonel Major becomes my hero.

Relevant History

Pierce O'Donnell has written a find history of an attempted terrorist attack on America by Nazi Germany. He examines it from the legal side of how it was handled. In doing so he looks at the legal precedents set earlier such as those from the Civil War, and other key periods in history. The first section of the book called "Military Necessity" covers the entire sabotage mission, from the preparation, through the operation, and finally the betrayal by one of the saboteurs which resulted in all of them men being arrested. O'Donnell does a good job of telling us about the saboteurs, why they were chosen, how they were trained, and what they did when they were in the United States. The second section titled "The Rule of Law" covers the legal aspects of the case. It tells us why a Military trial was used, and how President Roosevelt tried to force a quick guilty verdict and execution. The best part of this section though is the details of the representation the saboteurs received from Colonel Kenneth C. Royall. The final section is titled "A Cautionary Tale", and it covers the aftermath of the trial, as well as what happened to the key characters involved in it. It then moves on to relate the actions by President Roosevelt then to those undertaken by President Bush after the September 11th attacks. He covers the Supreme Court cases which have resulted from the administrations policies, and being a lawyer he is able to attack the actions of the administration from strong legal grounds. It is this section of the book which changes this book from a history of an event at the start of World War II, to one which has strong input into current events. It is refreshing to read a book which touches on September 11th and the war in Iraq which doesn't resort to name calling, but rather deals with the issues intelligently, looking at historical and legal precedents. Oddly enough the strength of the book is also perhaps its biggest weakness. The legal discussion is clearly Mr. O'Donnell's strength, but it can be difficult for those without a legal background to follow. Nevertheless, this is a book which should be read

Solid 5 Star and Super Read

This book is timely and has intellectual weight. It is a well-researched and well-written story of the eight German terrorists who traveled by U-boats to America and landed on the beaches of New York and Florida during World War II. The book outlines the terrorists' backgrounds, their motivations, the circumstances of their arrests, and an interesting view of their trial by a military commission set up by FDR. This book of history is a pleasure to read because it moves like a fast-paced novel with characters of depth. As for the legal analysis following the history portion of the book (i.e. Chapter 22 and following chapters), I make no comment nor take any position. However in the history portion, Pierce O'Donnell demonstrated that he is not only a great trial lawyer, but a great writer. Bravo!! A well-deserved 5 star read.

The Ice is Cracking

Reading Pierce O'Donnell's book is like holding a magnifying glass and a secret decoder ring up to today's headlines - the war in Iraq and the detention of suspected Taliban and Al-Qaeda members in Guantánamo without benefit of trial by jury or protection of Geneva Conventions. At first I thought Mr. O'Donnell's book was just an extremely well-documented look at a little-known case of these Nazi saboteurs in 1942, who were quickly tried and fried by President Roosevelt exercising his war powers. Yet the book is much more than that. It's an in-depth examination of the exigencies of denying civil liberties during times of war and really demystifies the writ of habeus corpus for us laymen. O'Donnell expertly guides the reader through the legal battles of Lincoln and Roosevelt - two presidents faced with war during times when the very life of our nation was in peril. The book brings us right into 2005 and the Bush administration's compounding woes as it suspends the writ of habeus corpus, civil liberties and adherence to Geneva Conventions with abandon. O'Donnell is very bright because he doesn't demonize Bush. Instead his book is a cautionary tale about the exponential troubles being brought upon our nation - a country founded on law -- by a president bending the rule of law to engage in unconstitutional, unlawful actions. In his essay on "Prudence" Emerson wrote "In skating over thin ice, our safety is in our speed." That sound you hear is the ice is cracking under President Bush and Vice President Cheney.

German Sabotage During World War II

Just as I started reading this book I watched a news program give a few minutes discussion on the extension of the so called Patriots Act. I am reminded of the quotation from Benjamin Franklin, "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." It also seems that the security authorities always want more power, which they promise to not abuse. This happened when Lincoln suspended habeas corpus during the Civil War. It happened in the aftermath of 9/11, and as beautifully described in this book it happened during World War II when the Germans landed eight men to sabotage aircraft plants and railway hubs in the US. The planned acts of sabotage never happened, the eight men were captured when one of them turned himself in. Six of them were executed, the other two sentenced to long prison terms. Public opinion was strongly for this action. Legally, Mr. O'Donnell explains the situation was rather disgraceful. And this is the precedent that President Bush is using to justify his actions in detaining "enemy combatants" in Cuba. These are strange times in which we are living, but as this book says, it isn't the first. Let's hope we pull out of this as well as we have in the past.