Legerdemain by James J. Heaphey

Legerdemain
James J. Heaphey
History Publishing Company
283 pages
This book provided by Lisa Roe ~ Online Publicist


We were surprised by one another.
~ First sentence, chapter 1, Legerdemain ~

Legerdemain is the story of deceit involving once major powers fading from the geopolitical scene and two new powers emerging from World War II and now competing for global dominance in the balance of power. It is set in Morocco, North Africa, but extends into Cyprus and the Middle East. The political problems of the era are hauntingly similar to the problems the U.S. faces today in that part of the world. ~ From the Author's note, Legerdemain ~

First off I knew going into this book that trying to keep all the players straight would be a tall order as it's difficult enough to do so in today's changing geopolitical landscape yet one that is set approximately 50+ years ago. That said I concentrated on story itself and what Mr. Heaphey was asked to do in his role as an undercover operative in the U.S. military. He had a very busy year in 1952. Everything from keeping his cover story in tact as managing editor of the base newspaper, The Minaret, to infiltrating cells of Istiqlal (Freedom Party struggling to free Morocco) to taking down a spy ring that was in his own backyard. Actually one of the spies was employed by Mr. Heaphey at the newspaper in addition to being married to a U.S. military officer.

Reading Legerdemain gives one an understanding of why the U.S. is, at times, viewed negatively in foreign countries around the world today and why certain fanatical off shoots of religious organizations desire to see the U.S. taken to its knees. There are dealings revealed in this book that weren't part of my history class in school. I now understand more about the cold war and U.S./Russian and U.S./French political relations than before. If you are a fan of U.S. military history this is one book that you might think about adding to your library.