Anthropological Intelligence is written with vigor. Its author, David Price, is the foremost authority on the way anthropology was transformed by the Cold War and World War II. Like Price's previous book, Threatening Anthropology, this text is based on his unrivaled knowledge of the Freedom of Information Act and rich archival records. For over twenty years he has been amassing archival material from public and private institutions across the country. Price has also interviewed scores of scholars that came of age during the war years. He combines his exhaustive knowledge of the archival record with the memories of major figures in the field to reveal a plethora of fascinating stories about how anthropologists and anthropology reacted to the challenges of World War II. In detailing this history Price moves our understanding of the war well beyond the stereotypical characterization that it was a noble fight against fascism, totalitarianism, and racial oppression.

It is widely known that most anthropologists participated in the war effort. The contributions of those such as Franz Boas, Ruth Benedict, and Margaret Mead are well documented, but the depth to which American anthropologists engaged in the effort was either unknown or not appreciated. The scholars who participated in the war have remained eerily silent about the specifics of their actions. It has thus been left to contemporary scholars such as Price to untangle what took place. Price is very clear throughout the text that his aim is not to critique the choices made by anthropologist during the war using hindsight to his advantage. Instead, Price examines the past from a presentist perspective in an effort to examine “how political and economic forces at a particular moment in history affected the development of American anthropology.” This knowledge is based on the premise that “all scientific knowledge—including anthropological theory—is embedded within the political and economic systems of the society producing and consuming these theories and knowledge.” Unlike George Stocking, the discipline's best-known historian, Price is not shy about connecting past and present to critique the current war in Iraq. This critique is based on the premise that our knowledge of the past will help us understand and shed light on the challenges that we are facing today.

There is much to learn from a careful reading of Price's book. For instance, his sober account of how the American Anthropological Association and the Society for Applied Anthropology served the war effort is fascinating and troubling. The same can be said for the contributions anthropologists made to organizations such as the U.S. Department of War, Office of Naval Intelligence, Department of State, War Relocation Authority, Office of War Information's Foreign Morale Analysis Division, and many more agencies discussed by Price. There are no heroes or villains in this detailed study and this is a testament to Price's scholarship, careful documentation, and command of the subject matter. When appropriate, Price weighs in on the ethical dilemmas encountered by scholars who participated in the “good war” and judiciously comments on the present war in Iraq.