Project Paperclip: German Scientists and the Cold War (Large Format Edition)

At the close of WWII, Josef Stalin was outraged to learn that his solders hadn't captured even one of the foremost German rocket experts. "This is absolutely intolerable," he complained to one of his generals. "We defeated Nazi armies and occupied Berlin, but the Americans got the rocket engineers. What could be more revolting and inexcusable?"The answer to Stalin's question is the subject of "Project Paperclip: German Scientists and the Cold War." Amidst, the chaos of the collapsing Third Reich, a host of American intelligence teams competed with their counterparts from England, France, and Russia in a race for "intellectual reparation," including the roundup of German scientific experts. The United States acquired 642 of them.The resulting program, codenamed "Project Paperclip," made only faltering headway while authorities deliberated, for seven years, over the necessity, legality, morality, and means of importing and exploiting their former enemies. Not until 1958 did Project Paperclip reach fulfillment, when Dr. Wernher von Braun and his rocket team placed in orbit the first American satellite, Explorer I.For his definitive study, Professor Clarence Lasby, Associate Prof. of History at the University of Texas at Austin, interviewed and corresponded with more than 200 participants of Project Paperclip, and studied thousands of classified documents in the secret files of the U.S. Army, Air Force, and Navy. The result is a compelling and comprehensive account of one of the most fascinating aspects of postwar history, which ultimately changed the course of American policy, industry, and society. Read more