Unfortunately, this event has been canceled. 

As part of the Blue Hill Public Library's annual Robert K. and Linda B. Slaven lecture series, all are invited to author Elyse Graham's lecture, "How Bookworms Beat the Nazis," on Wednesday, June 25th at 7 p.m. in the Pearson Room. 

From the book jacket: “At the start of WWII, the U.S. found itself in desperate need of an intelligence agency. The Office of Strategic Services (OSS), a precursor to today’s CIA, was quickly formed—and, in an effort to fill its ranks with experts, the OSS turned to academia for recruits. Suddenly, literature professors, librarians, and historians were training to perform undercover operations and investigative work—and these surprising spies would go on to profoundly shape both the course of the war and our cultural institutions with their efforts.

In Book and Dagger, Elyse Graham draws on personal histories, letters, and declassified OSS files to tell the story of a small but connected group of humanities scholars turned spies. Thrillingly paced and rigorously researched, Book and Dagger is an inspiring and gripping true story about a group of academics who helped beat the Nazis—a tale that reveals the indelible power of the humanities to change the world. Copies of Book and Dagger are available to check out at the library.”

Elyse Graham is a historian and professor at Stony Brook University, a flagship in the SUNY system. She holds degrees from Princeton, Yale, and MIT, and is the author of four books. Blue Hill Books will be on site with copies of Graham's book available to purchase.