Book
The bastard brigade : the true story of the renegade scientists and spies who sabotaged the Nazi atomic bomb / Sam Kean.
New York Times best selling author Sam Kean tells the incredible story of how a renegade group of spies kept Hitler from obtaining his ultimate prize: a nuclear bomb. Scientists have always kept secrets. But rarely in history have scientific secrets been as vital as they were during World War II. In the midst of planning the Manhattan Project, the U.S. Office of Strategic Services created a secret offshoot, the Alsos Mission, which was meant to gather intelligence on and sabotage if necessary, scientific research by the Axis powers. What resulted was a plot worthy of the finest thriller, full of spies, sabotage, and murder. At its heart was the 'Lightning A' team, a group of intrepid soldiers, scientists, and spies, and even a famed baseball player, who were given almost free rein to get themselves embedded within the German scientific community to stop the most terrifying threat of the war: Hitler acquiring an atomic bomb of his very own.
Record details
- ISBN: 9780316381680 (hardcover)
- Physical Description: xii, 447 pages, 24 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some colour) ; 25 cm
- Edition: First edition.
- Publisher: New York : Little, Brown and Company, 2019.
Content descriptions
| Bibliography, etc. Note: | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Search for related items by subject
- Baker & Taylor
The best-selling author of The Disappearing Spoon traces the remarkable story of how a renegade group of soldiers, scientists and spies prevented Hitler from obtaining a nuclear bomb. 75,000 first printing. - Baker & Taylor
Traces the story of a renegade group of soldiers, scientists, and spies who were sent into Axis territory to spy on and sabotage Germany's nuclear weapons research and prevent Hitler from obtaining a nuclear bomb. - Baker & Taylor
The leaders of the Manhattan Project were alarmed to learn that Nazi Germany was far outpacing the Allies in nuclear weapons research. Hitler would soon have the capability to reverse the entire D-Day operation and conquer Europe. Kean tells the story ofa rough and motley crew of geniuses-- dubbed the Alsos Mission-- sent into Axis territory to spy on, sabotage, and even assassinate members of Nazi Germany's feared Uranium Club. The Mission included Moe Berg, a major league catcher and multilingual international spy; Joe Kennedy Jr, whose need for adventure lead him to volunteer for the dangerous mission; and Iráene and Frederic Joliot-Curie, a physics Nobel-Prize winning power couple who became active members of the resistance. -- adapted from jacket - Grand Central Pub
From New York Times bestselling author Sam Kean comes the gripping, untold story of a renegade group of scientists and spies determined to keep Adolf Hitler from obtaining the ultimate prize: a nuclear bomb.
Scientists have always kept secrets. But rarely have the secrets been as vital as they were during World War II. In the middle of building an atomic bomb, the leaders of the Manhattan Project were alarmed to learn that Nazi Germany was far outpacing the Allies in nuclear weapons research. Hitler, with just a few pounds of uranium, would have the capability to reverse the entire D-Day operation and conquer Europe. So they assembled a rough and motley crew of geniuses -- dubbed the Alsos Mission -- and sent them careening into Axis territory to spy on, sabotage, and even assassinate members of Nazi Germany's feared Uranium Club.The details of the mission rival the finest spy thriller, but what makes this story sing is the incredible cast of characters -- both heroes and rogues alike -- including:- Moe Berg, the major league catcher who abandoned the game for a career as a multilingual international spy; the strangest fellow to ever play professional baseball.
- Werner Heisenberg, the Nobel Prize-winning physicist credited as the discoverer of quantum mechanics; a key contributor to the Nazi's atomic bomb project and the primary target of the Alsos mission.
- Colonel Boris Pash, a high school science teacher and veteran of the Russian Revolution who fled the Soviet Union with a deep disdain for Communists and who later led the Alsos mission.
- Joe Kennedy Jr., the charismatic, thrill-seeking older brother of JFK whose need for adventure led him to volunteer for the most dangerous missions the Navy had to offer.
- Samuel Goudsmit, a washed-up physics prodigy who spent his life hunting Nazi scientists -- and his parents, who had been swept into a concentration camp -- across the globe.
- Irène and Frederic Joliot-Curie, a physics Nobel-Prize winning power couple who used their unassuming status as scientists to become active members of the resistance.
Thrust into the dark world of international espionage, these scientists and soldiers played a vital and largely untold role in turning back one of the darkest tides in human history.
