Interestingly, two of my favorite historians, E.H. Carr and Eric Hobsbawm, are on the list of those who never participated in CIA front organizations. I suspect that the reasons ran in both directions. As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
Related, I highly recommend Kracauer's "From Caligari to Hitler" to anyone remotely interested in German Expressionism. "Talking nonsense is the sole privilege mankind possesses over the other organisms." -Dostoevsky
