Industrial espionage on behalf of the President of the United States of America. but this isn't a movie. It's the true story of Lawrence Bell, president of Bell Aircraft, and his 1938 journey through Germany, Italy, France, and England. His mission was to evaluate the aircraft industries of friend and (probable) foe and report back to the President Franklin Roosevelt so that our own readiness for war could be evaluated.Bell's report, was file in September, 1938. Bell's pre-war connections allowed him to get quite close to the German war machine. He found a very formidable adversary in Nazi Germany, a capable ally rushing to catch up in England, and questionable readiness in France and Italy.A post-war visit to war-torn Europe sewed the seeds of America's (and Bell Aircraft's) growth in rocketry and ballistic missiles as the hot war turned cold..Any history buff, especially the reader interested in how the U.S. prepared for it's role in the largest conflict in history, will find Spied in Plain Sight a compelllng read.