The Assessment of Men. Selection of Personel for the Office of Strategic Services.
New York; Rinehart & Company, 1948. [Espionage/Intelligence/Behavioural Science] FIRST EDITION, first impression. Octavo (24 x 16cm), pp.xvi; 541; [1], blank. Illustrated with black & white plates. Publisher's red cloth-covered boards, blocked in black and silver. Contents clean, name blanked out on free endpaper, binding a little shelf worn, sunned to spine. A very good copy of an exceptionally scarce and important text (only one other copy, a second impression, is currently listed for sale). An account of how psychologists and psychiatrists assessed the merits of recruits to the O.S.S., in the hope it would assist those concerned with the problem of predicting human behaviour when engaged in physical and mental assessment and selection. Formed in 1942, the O.S.S. was the first dedicated American Secret Service agency, based on a blueprint written by Commander Ian Fleming of British Naval Intelligence and co-ordinated by his friend and colleague Col. William "Wild Bill" Donovan. Evaluations of potential OSS candidates were carried out at Station S in Northern Virginia (now where Dulles International Airport stands). Donovan sought independent thinkers, and in order to bring together those many intelligent, quick-witted individuals who could think out-of-the box, he chose them from all walks of life, backgrounds, without distinction to culture or religion. The findings show how those characteristics (independent thought, effective intelligence, interpersonal skills) were found among OSS candidates, and within a matter of a few short months, Donovan headed an organisation which equalled and then rivalled Britain's Secret Intelligence Service and its Special Operations Executive. Disbanded in September 1945, the O.S.S was the predecessor to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). This copy is from the collection of Ian Fleming bibliographer Jon Gilbert (pencil ownership within). Item #71745
Price: £1,750.00
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