Project Paperclip; German Scientists and the Cold War

Fine, tight, and clean, Ib crisp dust jacket with some very minor bumping toi the top edge. First edition (stated). Hardcover. 338 pp (w/ bibliography & index). Between May 1945 and December 1952, the United States government imported 642 alien specialists under several programs known collectively by the code name "Paperclip". The acquisition of their valuable experience and specialized talents, and consequently their remarkable achievements, meant something in the delicate scales of the new international "balance of terror". 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 reparations" - including the roundup of German scientific experts. The United States acquired 642 of them. "Project Paperclip" tested legality, morality, and means of exploiting their former enemies, reaching fulfillment when Dr. Wernher von Braun and his rocket team placed in orbit the first American satellite, Explorer I. In this definitive study, Professor Lasby interviewed and corresponded with more than 200 participants in the project and studied thousands of classified documents in the secret files of the Departments of the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Commerce. The result is detailed coverage of one aspect of postwar history that has continues to hide in the shadows.…