Book Launch: Cracking the Nazi Code

Dr. Winthrop Bell, University of Toronto philosophy professor and British secret agent A12, may be best known for sounding the first intelligence warning against the Nazi plot for World War II in 1919, and the earliest public warning against Hitler’s plan for the Holocaust in 1939. Yet, defeating Nazi evil was, for Bell, simply a precursor to establishing a just post-war peace, one that would allow friendship and mutual profit for both victor and vanquished.

What was the historical importance of his intelligence work? What is its relevance today?  With his papers finally declassified, we can reflect on its relevance for today’s scholars and policymakers who are interested in international relations and Canada’s role in the defense of Europe.

 

Jason Bell, PhD, (no relation to Winthrop) is associate professor of philosophy at the University of New Brunswick. He has previously served as a Fulbright Professor in Germany and taught at universities in Belgium and the United States. He is author of Cracking the Nazi Code: The Untold Story of Canada’s Greatest Spy (HarperCollins), about Winthrop Bell’s intelligence work.