What Scots Are Reading: The Tango War

We ask fellow Scots to tell us about a book they've recently enjoyed. If you would like to contribute a book review, drop a note to: reference@monmouthcollege.edu. 

The Tango War: the struggle for the hearts, minds and riches of Latin American during World War II 

by Mary Jo McConahay

St. Martins Press, 2018
Reviewed by Tom Prince, Lecturer, Business and Economics

The gift of a book, “Happy Birthday, Dad”, inscribed from my daughters inside the front cover of The Tango War.  A history documenting the struggle for the hearts and minds of Latin America during World War II.  Also a thrilling account of the campaigns for the wealth of natural resources all needed for the war efforts.  Rival spy networks, negotiations for captured prisoners of war, and the flow of natural resources as a key to Allied victory. Camps in Texas holding “Enemy Aliens” from Latin America and a war waged to win the support of Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Costa Rica, Mexico, Columbia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Venezuela, Paraguay, Chile, Panama, and Cuba.  Campaigns waged outside of national attention, but crucial to the war effort. These true accounts are brought to life in a historical context that reads, as described on the inside cover, “Like a Thriller”.  And it does not disappoint. 

Part One:  The Prizes. Oil wells and production for the war effort were critical.  Petroleum for electricity, for asphalt to cover roads and to fuel automobiles, busses, and even trains.  Oil became a necessary resource as wartime fleets were converted from coal power to oil.  The thirty-three countries in Latin America became critical to production, distribution, and victory.  But other prizes were also critical.  Rubber, ports, resupply depots, and even airmen such as the Aztec Eagles from Mexico.

Part Two:  The Undesirables.  Jewish refugees turned away, German nationals who had transitioned to Latin America, Japanese families who had resettled in Latin America all considered threats to the Allied effort.  The stories of families and national interest all in conflict.  Each page offering historical insight to issues still faced today.

Part Three:  The Illusionists.  Spy masters and espionage in South America.

Part Four:  The Warriors.  The Battle for the Atlantic and Southern Seas fought from the shores of our southern neighbors.

Part Five:  The End without an End.  Prelude to the Cold War

Each part wound together with intrigue and historical lessons that keep the reader engaged as this historical account becomes very real. Truth is sometimes more thrilling then fiction.

Spoiler Alert:  Skip to the end of the book, the Allies won the war.  But what about Latin America?  Why was Walt Disney sent there?  Walt and El Grupo, the untold adventures. Down Argentine Way starring Don Ameche, Betty Grable, and Carmen Miranda and why was Carmen Miranda the highest-paid woman in the United States by the war’s end?  What influence did oil companies and Pan-American Airlines have over policy decisions? Germany had established the first airline in the Americas in 1921, in Columbia.  This was three years before Delta, the oldest operating U.S. airline. All part of the Tango War and the securing of Latin America.  

This does not read like a history lesson but rather it is a story of cultures, propaganda, and a spy thriller all combining to bring a true story to life. As I turned each page I was surprised with the events and history I was not aware of.  But, it also became personal in the most unexpected way.  Disruptive technology developed at Camp X, forty miles from Toronto, where men and women trained as spies.  Over a dozen countries were represented.  Five future directors of the Central Intelligence Agency and its predecessor, the OSS, trained there.  And it was also where set directors from Hollywood would recreate locations so operatives could train for secret missions, such as the assentation of SS General Reinhard Heydrich, who was one of the architects of the Final Solution carried out by Hitler.  It was just a mention in the book. But, Heydrich was killed outside a Czech village in 1942 by operatives who trained in England with assistance from Camp X.  Just a mention, a quick fact. The Czech village is called Lidice.  When General Heydrich’s death was reported to Hitler he ordered the village destroyed and all the men of the village killed.  The women and children were taken to camps. Most perished there. My grandmother was born in that village and she was the only one in her family to travel to the United States when she was just 18, prior to the war. She married and lived in Northern Wisconsin. She lost her entire family in Lidice.   

A book, a history lesson, and suddenly a very personal association with the events and descriptions of the Tango War.  

A book on Latin America and one well worth reading. Clear evidence of the joys of reading and discovering the unexpected. I wrote my daughters at the conclusion: “Thank you for the book, it taught me so much and I appreciated every page.  Love, Dad”

Tango War is available to borrow via I-Share.