Operation Paperclip: The Secret Intelligence Program that Brought Nazi Scientists to America

Annie Jacobsen documents the clandestine post-World War II mission to recruit sixteen hundred German scientists, engineers, and doctors for American research programs. The narrative follows high-ranking individuals like rocket scientist Wernher von Braun and medical researcher Hubertus Strughold, tracking their involvement in Nazi atrocities such as slave labor at the Mittelwerk factory and human experimentation at Dachau. Jacobsen uses declassified government records to show how the Joint Intelligence Objectives Agency scrubbed the records of these "personnel of interest" to bypass laws prohibiting the entry of war criminals into the United States.

This book serves readers interested in Cold War history and the ethical trade-offs of national security. Those who study military history or technical development learn how Nazi chemical weapons and aerospace engineering became the foundation for the Apollo program and the American nerve gas arsenal. Readers walk away with a specific understanding of how government agencies prioritized scientific superiority over legal accountability, ultimately integrating former Third Reich officials into the highest levels of the American military-industrial complex.