Operation Paperclip
Ratings14
Average rating4.4
15
Ratings14
Average rating4.4
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.
Reviews with the most likes.
This is the kind of book that you need to take a break every few chapters and let your anger subside over the behavior of the government officials that allowed under a 1000 Nazis to emigrate to America. The author does a good job of untangling literally hundreds of characters and many different threads, some still classified.
I found the book to be a captivating and well-paced read, it's engaging writing style makes the book accessible to a broad audience. The extensive research that went into crafting the narrative is truly impressive, making it a valuable source of information on a topic that has long been shrouded in secrecy. Her focus on the personal stories of the German scientists and the intimate details of the American agents involved in Operation Paperclip adds depth and nuance to the narrative, helping readers understand the complexities and moral dilemmas they faced. Overall, I found the book to be an enjoyable and enlightening read that I would highly recommend to others.
Wow just Wow! I had known about the Nazi Scientists from Von Braun and the space program, but this book shines the light on the massive chemical warfare and how the Nazi scientists were brought in. This book has amazing detail, referencing documents, interviews and transcripts. The Nazi tests were horrific and I was surprised what they were. You commonly hear about Nazi genetic tests from anti-evolutionist because of eugenics. However, the test described here were all weapon related or research to help German Soldiers survive (ocean water purification, cold temperature survival, etc). I will never look at ear thermometers the same way again.
Fascinating.
I am unsure where I fall on some of the issues debated within this book. For that reason, among others, my interest remained fairly tight throughout.
