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A review by roti_prata
The Bastard Brigade: The True Story of the Renegade Scientists and Spies Who Sabotaged the Nazi Atomic Bomb by Sam Kean
4.0
This was a thriller written in the scientific world based on WW2. That makes a lot of sense only because of the context of the war. We already know of the big leaps in the development of science during wars as countries try to one-up each other for bigger and more powerful killing tools.
Yet, the main focus of this story was not the physical tools but the people developing them. Prior to reading the book, I have already expected espionage and spying work to involve people from diverse backgrounds - academics, newscasters, basically everyone from everywhere. Networks need to be sufficiently different for the net of information to be wide.
But, sending academics to the front lines and having them do the work against other academics is a whole new ball game.
Yes, the book also includes the not so glamorous failures of projects in the War and the incentives that a soldier might possess (Kennedy trying to earn a medal and seeking heroics, nationalist sentiments).
Generally, I liked the book. It was easy to get through and taking the style of separating characters based on chapters and reconciling them in the final few chapters when they experience the same event/mission. There was just enough scientific explanation for the unlearned. Would read it again.
Yet, the main focus of this story was not the physical tools but the people developing them. Prior to reading the book, I have already expected espionage and spying work to involve people from diverse backgrounds - academics, newscasters, basically everyone from everywhere. Networks need to be sufficiently different for the net of information to be wide.
But, sending academics to the front lines and having them do the work against other academics is a whole new ball game.
Yes, the book also includes the not so glamorous failures of projects in the War and the incentives that a soldier might possess (Kennedy trying to earn a medal and seeking heroics, nationalist sentiments).
Generally, I liked the book. It was easy to get through and taking the style of separating characters based on chapters and reconciling them in the final few chapters when they experience the same event/mission. There was just enough scientific explanation for the unlearned. Would read it again.