Operation Paperclip
The Secret Intelligence Program that Brought Nazi Scientists to America
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Operation Paperclip
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Narrated by:
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Annie Jacobsen
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By:
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Annie Jacobsen
About this listen
The “remarkable” story of America's secret post-WWII science programs (The Boston Globe), from the New York Times best-selling author of Area 51.
In the chaos following World War II, the US 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 US 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 20th 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.
©2014 Annie Jacobsen (P)2014 Hachette AudioListeners also enjoyed...
Critic reviews
"Harrowing...How Dr. Strangelove came to America and thrived, told in graphic detail." (Kirkus ReviewsI)
What listeners say about Operation Paperclip
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Daniel Freer
- 21-10-20
Fascinating
Paperclip has always been a topic that I've found interesting and the author does a great job narrating throughout.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 27-02-21
Great as always
I’ve bought all the Annie Jacobsen audiobooks on here. They’re so well presented and so well researched and feed into one another. Great set of books.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Boo Boo
- 17-08-17
Interesting Book, Questionable Narration
This seems a well-researched and in many ways necessary history. Not only does it tell us who in the Nazi scientific and technical establishment was recruited to assist the US military, but why their crimes were so egregious.
The problem with the audiobook is the narration. I do not think the author was the best person to undertake this task.
Firstly, there are the numerous mispronunciations of German and European names. This seems odd since the author was surely exposed to the correct pronunciations during her research. On the other hand, audiobooks suffer from this problem frequently.
There is also the very strange manner of speaking. The best analogy I can make is to some YouTube videos. Some of these are narrated by computer-generated voices. The delivery is thus strangely stilted with the emphasis being place on the wrong words in a sentence, or on the wrong parts of words. The narration of this book frequently reminds me very much of that.
Finally, there is the strange and disturbing pronunciation of some English words. I was more than taken aback to hear "annals of war" pronounced "anals of war" near the start of the book (I kid you not).
So, a interesting book, but would be better if narrated by a professional voice artist I think.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jordan
- 15-01-23
Crazy
Even after finishing this book I'm still in shock that these things happened and people got away with it. It made me think that sometimes evil will prevail.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Andrew W.
- 01-02-19
excellent
great research and story, unfortunately Annie Jacobsen's narration turned out to be a little toneless, which is a real shame
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- JH312
- 19-06-21
Troubling but very relevant.
After listening to this well written, researched and narrated book, I was torn between feeling angry and disgusted in very equal measures.
Even though all these events began some 82 years ago and most, if not all of the players the dead and gone. I feel incredibly angry that I share a world where such monsters can not only exist to perpetrate the most heinous of crimes against humanity, but through expediency and secrecy at the highest levels can thrive and rewrite their bloody and depraved history and actually for some to become heroes and also, I feel disgusted by the complicit nature of the government involved ignoring all decency in the name of their own self interests.
This is a great book.
Although it’s not an easy listen.
Not because of a graphic nature, but by the failure of human morality and the ruthless application of opportunism on both sides of the ideological spectrum.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- john
- 04-01-23
Very interesting.. why would they hide this info?? Hmm
High level detail in depth dialogue and story line of events that occurred and names of people involved.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mr. Alan R. Jenkins
- 22-10-16
Secrets of post-war German collaboration exposed
Great book, well written, though long-winded at times.
Biggest down side of book is the pronunciation of personal names - they are blatantly incorrect. Annie would probably be better to use another narrator (suggestion).
Detail is very much evident in this book, and exposes much of the "vile and evil activities" of many of the engineers and scientists committed prior to return to USA, and their crimes overlooked for the sake of technological gain. It questions the morality of the leaders of the time, and what could have been gained by way of illegal blood letting".
Annie; I admire your writing in this book, and the "no secret left untold" approach must be commended.
As a story - 100%. A highly recommended listen.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- james Thurlby-Brooks
- 19-02-24
Overwhelming
Well researched and read. Horrifically overwhelming in content, it is well detailed. Great work about a very terrible situation.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- christopher
- 02-05-24
Brilliant!
Well narrated and excellently researched factual account of operation paper clip. An important peice of our History.
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