The Bastard Brigade is nonfiction that reads like a thriller. It is the gripping story of the development of nuclear bombs during the 1930s and 1940s and the scientists and spies who are determined to keep the Third Reich from developing the bomb. In scope it is rather like The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History by Robert M. Edsel but somehow much more interesting and readable.
Part I deals with the pre-war years and introduces the major characters, ranging from Moe Berg (a Jewish baseball player who moonlighted as an agent for the OSS, predecessor to the CIA), to Irene and Frederic Joliot-Curie (the daughter and son-in-law of Marie Curie), Robert Oppenheimer, Wernher von Braun, and many others.
Part II focuses on 1942 and multiple discoveries in the field of physics. The Germans, unfortunately, got a head start and spent millions of Reichsmarks on their efforts to provide a definitive way to take over the world. When Hitler threatens the West with a super weapon, the Allies become concerned and rapidly accelerate their own efforts with the Manhattan Project. The Allies then develop an ad hoc “Bastard Brigade” of people like Moe Berg and others who would become the Alsos Mission and venture into Axis territories to spy on the German war effort, steal uranium and heavy water, sabotage labs and manufacturing sites, and even kidnap or assassinate members of the Nazi Uranium Club. Parts IV and V focus on the happenings in 1944 and Part VI on 1945
Author Kean has a degree in physics so is quite knowledgable about the subject of nuclear physics. There are helpful illustrations that depict atomic fusion and other abstract concepts as well as a list of major and minor characters and a list of sources. Chapters are short, helping maintain a fast pace, which must be difficult with such a weighty subject. The writing is deft and informative without being overly technical. I remained fascinated throughout.
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The Bastard Brigade (Little, Brown and Company, July 9, 2019) is available through:
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