Covert Affair

Conant delivers a stunning account of Julia and Paul Child's experiences as members of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and the tumultuous years when they were caught up in the McCarthy spy hunt in the 1950s. It is the fascinating portrait of a group of idealistic men and women who were recruited by the citizen spy service, slapped into uniform, and dispatched to wage political warfare in remote outposts. 448 pp. 50,000 print.