Project Paperclip: German Scientists and the Cold War

Stated: "First Atheneum Paperback Edition." 1975 at title page; copyright 1974 by Clarence Lasby. Wraps state: "Atheneum 214, College Edition." Interestingly, the first hardcover edition had a copyright of 1971, with a Library of Congress card no. beginning with 75. Same number of pages and lay-out in both first edition and this softcover. Pictorial wraps matching first edition wrapper design, some cover, corner wear, curl. Original cover lay-out in white with bold black titles and red and blue stripes. This design by James and Ruth McCrea wrapping from spine to cover appearing to depict wired or similar barrier morphing into freed human figures. Pages generally very good; no writing. Tanning inside back cover. Bind intact, square. Scarce first softcover issue of this revealing material. Clarence G. Lasby presents a model of archival research of high standards with complete documentation and deftly fills a vacuum between official history and news coverage. Both a compelling narrative and a well written history of the time and events. Lasby is both even-handed and independent in his research and description. "Project Paperclip" approaches the ideal monograph - narrow and consistent in focus, while aware of its wider context and implications to all who dare to know. In Feb. 1946 the news analyst Edward P. Morgan reported that for months the Western Allies had been playing 'a sinister games of hide-and-seek' with Russia for German scientists, and that during the clandestine ops, the nations behaved 'far more like enemies than allies.' "A nation remembers most easily periods of crisis. For the last 25 years, this has been between the U. S. and Soviet Union. The conflict has been so extensive in scope, so ominous in implications, so irreconcilable, that it provided a 'convenient' framework for nearly every occurrence since 1945. In this context, the assimilation of German scientists was natural, and necessary, in light of this 'Cold War.' Between May 1945 and December 1952 the American gov imported 642 alien specialists under several programs known as 'Project Paperclip.' Their valuable experience and talents were required in the 'balance of terror' with the USSR. Here, Lasby brings myth into the light of history. "At the close of WW II, Premier Joseph Stalin was outraged to learn that his soldiers had not captured even one of the German rocket experts. 'This is intolerable,' he complained to one of this generals. 'We defeated the German armies; we occupied Berlin and Peenemunde, but the Americans have the rocket engineers.' Clarence Lasby investigates this and much more in his monumental research efforts. "Amidst the chaos of the collapsing Third Reich, a host of American intelligence teams competed with England, France, and Russia in a race for 'intellectual reparations.' American civilian and military authorities deliberated for seven years over the necessity, legality, morality, and means of exploiting their former enemies. Not until 1958 did the project reach fulfillment, when Dr. Wernher von Braun and his rocket team placed the first American satellite, Explorer I, in orbit." For this definitive study, Professor Lasby interviewed and corresponded with more than two hundred participants in the project. He studied thousands of classified documents in the files of the Air Force, Army, Navy, and Department of Commerce. The Air Force was the most open and had declassified much by 1955. The result is this revelatory coverage, both comprehensive and compelling. Twenty-one pages of reference notes for the nine chapters. Also, secondary sources, from correspondence, interviews, etc. Features a dozen-page, throughly detailed, index. Also, an author's bio. 339 pages. Insured post. Size: 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" Tall.…