You're Stepping on My Cloak and Dagger (Bluejacket Books) | Roger Hall

You're Stepping on My Cloak and Dagger (Bluejacket Books) | Roger Hall | The Most Popular Book at the Army Intelligence School

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You're Stepping on...

	You're Stepping on My Cloak and Dagger (Bluejacket Books) Roger Hall US Naval Institute Press, 2004 - 220 pages average customer review:based on 29 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

I am so glad this has been reprinted

One of the funniest books I've read in any genre. If Dave Barry had been eligible for enlistment in 1942 this is the the kind of book he might have written. Roger Hall's account of his time in the O.S.S. is full of dry wit, bawdy humor, accute assessments of the Army's intelligence operations during World War II, and his own vivid personality. The pace is fast, people and situations are clearly delineated in a few deft words, and the irreverence only heightens the sobering reality of military life in a time of war. Thirty years after I first read it this book still makes me laugh.

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The Most Popular Book at the Army Intelligence School

In August 1964, when I arrived at Fort Holabird, MD, the home of the US Army Intelligence School (USAINTS) I was pleasantly surprised. The place was more like a small college campus than a military installation, except for the mess hall which served better food than any institution of higher learning. There was a small but excellent library that even had a very good selection of classical music.

The most popular book in the library was "You're Stepping On My Cloak and Dagger." Not only were the library copies well-worn, the bookstore had trouble keeping copies in stock. The training portions of the book were so familiar that everyone loved the book. This book is to the intelligence business what M.A.S.H. is to combat surgeons.

No one who has ever been in the intelligence business (about 40 years for me) could read this book without laughing aloud throughout. I think that even readers without this personal experience will find the book hilarious.

I have given away numerous copies of this book over the last four decades. My last copy has been missing for many years (an unreturned loan) so I was ecstatic to find the book back in print. I have ordered several copies so that I will never again be without this long-time favorite volume.

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They threw me out of the library for laughing too loud

I read this forty years ago in the public library ... or at least, I started reading it there, until the librarian ordered me to leave because I couldn't stop laughing. Now that I've read it again I'm still laughing, but I'm also impressed in a way I couldn't have been back then because I was too young to understand the serious subtext of Roger Hall's memoir. When you're fighting a just war, a war against monsters, you still need a sense of humor and perspective. That doesn't detract from the willingness to serve and to struggle; it brings much-needed humanity to the effort in the midst of chaos and suffering. Like a lot of soldiers -- my own father among them -- Roger didn't see combat, but his contribution to the war effort was just as genuine as if he'd stormed Omaha Beach ... and he did it with style! This is a wonderful book.

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It's the funniest thing I've ever read

Some time ago, almost 30 years ago to be exact, I read this book. I'd picked it up at a second-hand paperback store for a dime because the title caught my eye. I read it in one sitting, laughing out loud literally. I was so boisterous, I scared my co-workers on the midnight shift! I read the book over and over until I eventually lost it during a housemove. Now, with 2 sons, 25 and 22, I found myself wishing I'd had a copy to share with them. When we first got online, I spent hours looking for it, but no luck. Last Christmas, I happened to find it listed on Amazon prior to being released again. I've read it again and laughed HARDER and LOUDER than I did years ago.
The book chronicles Hall's experiences as a young army officer during WWII who volunteers for a mysterious clandestine organization, the OSS. His riotous re-telling of his training and experiences will bring a smile to even the most dour face. It's like like one of the other reviewers said---Dave Barry meets the OSS!
I know my boys will love reading this book---if I ever put it down long enough to share with them!

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The funniest book of all time

I first read this book 5 years ago, and I have been waiting for someone to republish it ever since. My father-in-law has an original copy and everyone in the family reads it. I don't think it ever gets put down. It is the funniest book I have ever read, and I read alot. I almost got kicked off a public bus because I could not stop laughing. It just does not get any better than this.

I hope someone considers publishing his other two works:
"All My Pretty Ones" and "19". They are both excellent and hilarious (almost as good You're Stepping on My Cloak and Dagger). I would love to add them to my collection.

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reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, page 5, 6

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