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

アニー・ジェイコブセンの筆致は、単なる歴史の記録を超え、正義と利便性の狭間で揺れる国家の「魂の闇」を容赦なく抉り出します。冷戦という大義名分の下、かつてナチスの戦争犯罪に加担した狂気の天才たちが、アメリカの至宝へと変貌していく過程は、知的好奇心を激しく刺激すると同時に、背筋が凍るような倫理的葛藤を読者に突きつけます。 膨大な一次史料に基づき、悪魔的な頭脳が戦後の繁栄を支えるという、残酷な皮肉が鮮明に描き出されています。科学の進歩が孕む原罪と、国家機密という名の忘却。本書は、現代文明の礎に埋められた禁断の真実を暴き、読む者の価値観を根底から揺さぶる、比類なきノンフィクションの傑作です。