The Bastard Brigade: The True Story of the Renegade Scientists and Spies Who Sabotaged the Nazi Atomic Bomb
The Bastard Brigade: The True Story of the Renegade Scientists and Spies Who Sabotaged the Nazi Atomic Bomb book cover

The Bastard Brigade: The True Story of the Renegade Scientists and Spies Who Sabotaged the Nazi Atomic Bomb

by
Price
$20.25
Format
Hardcover
Pages
464
Publisher
Little, Brown and Company
Publication Date
ISBN-13
978-0316381680
Dimensions
6.6 x 1.85 x 9.65 inches
Weight
2.45 pounds

Description

NPR Science Friday's Best Science Book of 2019 "A thrilling tale of wartime derring-do meets a richly researched story of postwar intellectual exploitation . . . . Perfect as a first foray into this period, and I defy any reader not to be drawn into the world of unlikely spies and Nazi Nobel Prize winners that Kean paints so vividly and infuses with such energy."― Science "Thrilleresque science history."― Nature "An exciting read for fans of World War II history, espionage tales, and the development of nuclear weapons."― Library Journal, starred review "Bastard Brigade is as entertaining as it is fascinating. Kean's colloquial expressions and metaphors provide levity to the gritty history of a world at war, with the survival of freedom, and possibly humanity, hanging in the balance. He never lets the reader forget what was at stake. . .Kean's page-turner about a still too-little-understood chapter in history deserves a prominent place in WWII collections."― Booklist, starred review "An exciting history of the battle for atomic supremacy during World War II. . . Throughout, Kean eschews erudite fastidiousness for consistent action and brio. Beginning with the title, the narrative is an engrossing cinematic drama. . . Vivid derring-do moves swiftly through a carefully constructed espionage thriller."― Kirkus Praise for Sam Kean: "Riveting.... Kean has a knack for distilling chemistry to its essential elements, using stories and humor.... this is a dose of fresh air.― Library Journal "Richly informative.... Once again, Kean proves his mettle as one of science literature's most gifted practitioners."― Booklist "Entertaining... with sly wit and boyish wonder"― Discover Magazine "Compelling stuff, written with verve and in a style that veers between simple lightheartedness and open jocularity.... Eminently accessible and enjoyable."― Robin McKie, The Guardian A "lively tome"― New York Post "Science is made fun whenever best-selling author Kean...is narrating."― Susannah Cahalan, New York Post "Kean's real knack is for digging up strange details most textbooks leave out....More than an assortment of trivia, the book is an engaging history."― Allison Bohac, Science News "A science journalist with a flair for words...[Kean's] language is fluid and accessible, even for the science-challenged."― Barbara Hoffert, Library Journal "Kean is one of America's smartest and most charming science writers, and his new book could be perfect for summer readers who prefer some substance with their fun."― Michael Schaub, National Public Radio Sam Kean is the New York Times bestselling author of Caesar's Last Breath, The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons, The Disappearing Spoon, and The Violinist's Thumb, all of which were also named Amazon top science books of the year. The Disappearing Spoon was a runner-up for the Royal Society of London's book of the year for 2010, and The Violinist's Thumb and The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons were nominated for the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award in 2013 and 2015, as well as the AAAS/Subaru SB&F prize.His work has appeared in The Best American Nature and Science Writing, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, the New York Times Magazine , Psychology Today, Slate, Mental Floss, and other publications, and he has been featured on NPR's Radiolab , All Things Considered , and Fresh Air .

Features & Highlights

  • From
  • New York Times
  • bestselling author Sam Kean comes the gripping, untold story of a renegade group of scientists and spies determined to keep Adolf Hitler from obtaining the ultimate prize: a nuclear bomb.
  • Scientists have always kept secrets. But rarely have the secrets been as vital as they were during World War II. In the middle of building an atomic bomb, the leaders of the Manhattan Project were alarmed to learn that Nazi Germany was far outpacing the Allies in nuclear weapons research. Hitler, with just a few pounds of uranium, would have the capability to reverse the entire D-Day operation and conquer Europe. So they assembled a rough and motley crew of geniuses -- dubbed the Alsos Mission -- and sent them careening into Axis territory to spy on, sabotage, and even assassinate members of Nazi Germany's feared Uranium Club.   The details of the mission rival the finest spy thriller, but what makes this story sing is the incredible cast of characters -- both heroes and rogues alike -- including:
  • Moe Berg, the major league catcher who abandoned the game for a career as a multilingual international spy; the strangest fellow to ever play professional baseball.
  • Moe Berg
  • , the major league catcher who abandoned the game for a career as a multilingual international spy; the strangest fellow to ever play professional baseball.
  • Werner Heisenberg, the Nobel Prize-winning physicist credited as the discoverer of quantum mechanics; a key contributor to the Nazi's atomic bomb project and the primary target of the Alsos mission.
  • Werner Heisenberg
  • , the Nobel Prize-winning physicist credited as the discoverer of quantum mechanics; a key contributor to the Nazi's atomic bomb project and the primary target of the Alsos mission.
  • Colonel Boris Pash, a high school science teacher and veteran of the Russian Revolution who fled the Soviet Union with a deep disdain for Communists and who later led the Alsos mission.
  • Colonel Boris Pash
  • , a high school science teacher and veteran of the Russian Revolution who fled the Soviet Union with a deep disdain for Communists and who later led the Alsos mission.
  • Joe Kennedy Jr., the charismatic, thrill-seeking older brother of JFK whose need for adventure led him to volunteer for the most dangerous missions the Navy had to offer.
  • Joe Kennedy Jr.
  • , the charismatic, thrill-seeking older brother of JFK whose need for adventure led him to volunteer for the most dangerous missions the Navy had to offer.
  • Samuel Goudsmit, a washed-up physics prodigy who spent his life hunting Nazi scientists -- and his parents, who had been swept into a concentration camp -- across the globe.
  • Samuel Goudsmit,
  • a washed-up physics prodigy who spent his life hunting Nazi scientists -- and his parents, who had been swept into a concentration camp -- across the globe.
  • Irène and Frederic Joliot-Curie, a physics Nobel-Prize winning power couple who used their unassuming status as scientists to become active members of the resistance.
  • Irène
  • and
  • Frederic Joliot-Curie
  • , a physics Nobel-Prize winning power couple who used their unassuming status as scientists to become active members of the resistance.
  • Thrust into the dark world of international espionage, these scientists and soldiers played a vital and largely untold role in turning back one of the darkest tides in human history.

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
60%
(524)
★★★★
25%
(218)
★★★
15%
(131)
★★
7%
(61)
★
-7%
(-61)

Most Helpful Reviews

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Have we come to this?

Once again, to my surprise and disappointment, I must disclose I was unable - or unwilling, I guess - to finish a book, this book. I give Kean's effort three stars based somewhat on the pages I did read, but mostly based on his ambitious subject, one I wanted to know much more about than I do. I also want to thank reviewer Delta D. for using the adjective "laddish," which I assume is British English, because the laddish-ness is the problem. Kean's approach to history is cavalier and freewheeling, containing frequent phrases of popular, utterly pedestrian English. He also describes tangents of personality and interpersonal relationships that are unneeded. Of course, when describing a tight band of saboteurs the dovetailing or the grating between members can be part of the story, but not necessarily. And I don't care where and how Micky Rooney parked his convertible while attending Hollywood High. The human aspect is implicit to history well structured and well written.

As other reviewers have asked, where are the editors? Do editors even have jobs anymore? I stopped reading on page 76. On that page Kean describes baseball player Moe Berg on a goodwill trip to Japan in 1934. Kean writes, "He (Berg) also shot footage for a documentary about the trip, using video cameras he borrowed from a company in New York." What? That Kean, a physics major as an undergraduate, would write that sentence initially is hardly believable. That the sentence would make it through editing is equally as unbelievable. There were no video cameras in 1934. Field video cameras with a usable resolution did not exist until the mid 1970s. Any moving image recorded in 1934, in the field or studio, was on film. In no way electronic, a film camera then was a mechanical-chemical device. And so the reader must ask if this detail was missed, what others might be wrong?

This book, and my immediately previous review about a not fully-read book, has me wondering about the "People-Magazine-ing" of what should be serious writing. A few years back I read a science fiction book composed of very short chapters, each chapter made up of very short paragraphs of very short sentences. I finally understood what the book was - a video game on paper. Have we reached a point at which even serious history must contain frequent shiny things? Have we really come to the "Fahrenheit 451" moment in our culture?
3 people found this helpful
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Both Gripping and Highly Informative

I have read a number of books on the Manhattan Project – both technical and historical – as well as on the Alsos mission, Farm Hall, etc. But this book contains much information of which I was not aware - indeed, even key individuals whose activities were unknown to me. Consequently, I found this book quite instructive.

Written in a prose that is rather “mod”, i.e., full of modern-day slang expressions, the author has written a book in a style which I found to be clear, very friendly, extremely lively and cringingly captivating. As the chapters roll along, he seamlessly weaves together the activities of various groups and individuals whose common objective is ascertaining and eliminating any likelihood of a Nazi nuclear bomb.

This is an absolutely fascinating read that should appeal particularly to those with a fascination with spy stories, war stories and the efforts towards the development of the nuclear bomb in Nazi Germany.
3 people found this helpful
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Five stars just three chapters in

Three chapters into Sam Kean's The Bastard Brigade I knew it would be worth a five-star rating. Kean lays out the search for Nazi atomic secrets in a clear, chronological order. He explains atomic principles in straightforward language, but without "dumbing down" nuclear physics. Kean also included relevant photographs and charts and as this reviewer has suggested authors, included a link where the reader can find additional information.

Many individuals were involved in the search for Nazi atomic secrets. Kean conveniently put the pictures of six of the most important on the back page with a brief biography to help the reader. Also, for readability Kean' varied the length of his chapters. He did not hew to the notion like some editors do, that all chapters in a book need to be nearly the same length. If five pages tell one discrete part of the story, then he wrote five pages, if another took ten he wrote ten. Having many short one-topic chapters, instead of multi-topic longer chapters, has another advantage, it gives the reader many more natural places to stop reading, not that you want to stop, before going to bed or returning to the daily grind. Further, even though your reviewer has read and reviewed many books in this genre, your reviewer, learned a fair amount of new information, particularly about the life of Joe Kennedy's service in WWII. The Bastard Brigade also contains many comical and lighthearted moments. Of course, being about WWII, there are tragic moments as well.

The only criticism this reviewer has is the title. There are still places where the word “bastard” is still considered impolite. So despite its title, a title you can't say in the presence of young children or your sweet grandmother, The Bastard Brigade easily deserves five stars.
2 people found this helpful
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Great read.

What a great book, and a quick read. I’ve been reading about WW2 for years and learned so much.
Thanks to all these men and women for saving civilization.
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Great Read

I just finished The Bastard Brigade and hated to put it down along the way. I had heard some of the book's tales before, but they were isolated, while Mr. Kean's book put them in historical context with what was happening in the world at that time.
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Serious exciting history with pockets of mirth

I just finished your book and must say it was thoroughly enjoyable. I enjoy non-fiction science history and found your book really "fills the bill". Although the subject was very serious you seemed to have a knack in bringing out pockets of mirth.
Your details of famous scientists were most interesting and went beyond what they did scientifically but who they were politically and emotionally. Much new material for me.
Very well done.
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Page-turner

A riveting page-turner, a classic 'story behind the story' of events happening in WWII not widely known, which had great implications in assisting the Allies in winning the war.
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A true little known story of WW11 written by Sam Kean at the top of his game.

I loved this book. I have read hundreds of books about WW11 and this is among my favorites. The Americans were not the only ones in the race for the atomic bomb. The Nazis were getting close. We needed to know how close and send a brigade of spies to find out. Scientists and a Jewish ballplayer were among them. One of the joys of the book is Sam Kean is a scientist and explains how things work in a simple and understandable manner. I now understand heavy water and how Joe Kennedy probably died. I was an art major. The fact that I got it means he is really good at explaining things. This is a great read....I could hardly put it down and relayed many stories to all my friends. Book club in the fall!
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Great history

Sam Kean weaves a great story as he recreates the actions, fears, and events during World War II concerning the German atomic bomb research. He allows the reader to glimpse what it must have felt like to the scientists running a life-or-death race without being able to see where their competition was. In the process, he dispels some myths, uncovers heroics, and--more than anything--lets us see the behind-the-scenes secret that consumed the world's leading scientists. A great read!
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GREAT BOOK!!!!!!!

I wish they would have had a book like this in my high school history classes. I really learned a lot from this book and loved all the characters-especially Moe Berg!!! I felt like i lived through it with them!! Thank you Sam Kean!!!

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