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The "remarkable" story of America's secret post-WWII science programs (The Boston Globe), from the New York Times bestselling author of Area 51.
In the chaos following World War II, the U.S. government faced many difficult decisions, including what to do with the Third Reich's scientific minds. These were the brains behind the Nazis' once-indomitable war machine. So began Operation Paperclip, a decades-long, covert project to bring Hitler's scientists and their families to the United States.Many of these men were accused of war crimes, and others had stood trial at Nuremberg; one was convicted of mass murder and slavery. They were also directly responsible for major advances in rocketry, medical treatments, and the U.S. space program. Was Operation Paperclip a moral outrage, or did it help America win the Cold War?
Drawing on exclusive interviews with dozens of Paperclip family members, colleagues, and interrogators, and with access to German archival documents (including previously unseen papers made available by direct descendants of the Third Reich's ranking members), files obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, and dossiers discovered in government archives and at Harvard University, Annie Jacobsen follows more than a dozen German scientists through their postwar lives and into a startling, complex, nefarious, and jealously guarded government secret of the twentieth century.
In this definitive, controversial look at one of America's most strategic, and disturbing, government programs, Jacobsen shows just how dark government can get in the name of national security.
"Harrowing...How Dr. Strangelove came to America and thrived, told in graphic detail." --Kirkus Reviews
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I just finished The Making of the Atomic Bomb. Because of all the German scientists the US recruited, it led me to start Operation Paperclip: The Secret Intelligence Program that Brought Nazi Scientists to America. What book led you down a rabbit hole to read other books? https://t.co/lJDSbL6Anw
Creative Director of the world's best History Channel https://t.co/R6CMLAObl3 | I host the Dan Snow’s @HistoryHit podcast
At the end of the war nearly 2000 scientists were removed from Germany to the US. Known as Operation Paperclip because paperclips were attached to the files of rocket scientists. Pulitzer finalist Annie Jacobsen comes on the podcast to tell me about it. https://t.co/OeywtiLKdS
Newspaper columnist, former radio playwright, Booklist's ''most prolific reviewer of adult fiction and nonfiction.'' Bookseller. I wanna be a paperback writer.
#nowreading Operation Paperclip by @AnnieJacobsen. An astonishing (and frequently enraging) story, told by a talented writer. https://t.co/qi35ejRWPh
One of iBooks' Top Ten Nonfiction Books of the Year
"Important, superbly written.... Jacobsen's book allows us to explore these questions with the ultimate tool: hard evidence. She confronts us with the full extent of Paperclip's deal with the devil, and it's difficult to look away."--Matt Damsker, USA Today (4 stars)