Michael Digby
Burn, Bomb, Destroy: The German Sabotage Campaign in North America 1914–1917
From the publisher
Many believe that World War I was only fought “over there,” as the popular 1917 song goes, in the trenches and muddy battlefields of Northern France and Belgium—they are wrong.
There was a secret war fought in America; on remote railway bridges and waterways linking the United States and Canada; aboard burning and exploding ships in the Atlantic Ocean; in the smoldering ruins of America’s bombed and burned-out factories, munitions plants, and railway centers; and waged in carefully disguised clandestine workshops where improvised explosive devices and deadly toxins were designed and manufactured. It was irregular warfare on a scale that caught the United States woefully unprepared.
This is the true story of German secret agents engaged in a campaign of subversion and terror on the American homeland before and during World War I.
Reviews
“…a fascinating tale of international intrigue, geopolitics, divided loyalties, and criminal investigations during wartime.” – New York Journal of Books
“…an excellent overview of the tangled web of German espionage in the US.” – Roads to the Great War
“Using historical records and other sources ranging from pre-World War I through the 21st century, Digby’s book is a compelling narrative about people involved in German-inspired events to keep America out of World War I.” – Over the Front
“Digby has made a very valuable addition to the scholarship on the subject…” – The NYMAS Review
“Digby introduces the reader to a host of colorful, and frequently sinister, characters.” – Journal of Military History
“Mr. Digby’s book, with its wealth of telling detail and sweeping narrative to cover a range of loosely connected sabotage operations all over the country, makes a valuable addition to the literature on national security law and history.” – American Intelligence Journal
“Michael Digby is technically astute and a compelling author who consistently manages to compress the verbose, technical, and complex into a concise, easily readable, and enjoyable narrative. Frequently the story entails several threads, but Digby stitches them together so the reader maintains clarity without becoming lost and disorientated. A mix of stunning revelation, to those previously uninitiated, and expertly told detail that explains and enhances through a well-crafted and logical flow; this book’s appeal will range from period enthusiasts to those who are simply looking for an exciting and historically accurate account.” – Liam FitzGerald-Finch, Former British Army Ammunition Technical Officer
“Author Michael Digby provides a stirring story of the first deadly campaign ever waged on our homeland by agents of any world government.” – Argunners Magazine
Here are some of our earlier discussions about The Great War that you can stream now from our archives:
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Elizabeth Cobbs — The Hello Girls: America’s First Women Soldiers
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Chris Dubbs — An Unladylike Profession: American Women War Correspondents in World War I
- Holger Afflerbach — On a Knife Edge: How Germany Lost the First World War
[Broadcast on July 7, 2022 and rebroadcasted on January 15, 2026; recorded earlier.]
Michael Digby served seven years in the United States Army, and then spent 35 years on the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department—most of it as a detective and FBI-certified bomb technician on the Bomb Squad. He has rendered safe live improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and conducted hundreds of investigations involving bombs, IEDs, and incendiary devices. Now retired, he provides instruction to the next generation of detectives, bomb disposal officers, K-9 officers, and agents. He is an avid reader of history and an amateur battlefield historian. Burn, Bomb, Destroy is his third book.
