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

by Sam Kean

Overview

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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316381673
Publisher:	Little, Brown and Company
Publication date:	07/21/2020
Pages:	464
Sales rank:	46,127
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

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 TimesMagazine, Psychology Today,Slate,Mental Floss, and other publications, and he has been featured on NPR's Radiolab, All Things Considered, and Fresh Air.

Table of Contents

Author's Note xiii

Prologue: Summer of '44 3

Part I Prewar, to 1939

Chapter 1 Professor Berg 13

Chapter 2 Near Misses and Big Hits 23

Chapter 3 Fast and Slow 38

Chapter 4 Crimea to Hollywood 41

Chapter 5 Division 48

Chapter 6 Spinning out of Control 61

Chapter 7 Banzai Berg 75

Chapter 8 On the Brink 82

Part II 1940-1941

Chapter 9 The Uranium Club 91

Chapter 10 Heavy Water 105

Chapter 11 Phoney to Real 111

Chapter 12 Mad Jack 113

Chapter 13 Compromise 120

Chapter 14 Harvard Highs and Lows 123

Chapter 15 Maud Ray Kent 126

Part III 1942

Chapter 16 Resistance 131

Chapter 17 The Fire Heard 'Round the World 136

Chapter 18 Off to War 141

Chapter 19 Brazil and Beyond 147

Chapter 20 Baja Days 157

Chapter 21 V-1, V-2, V-3 162

Chapter 22 Letters 164

Chapter 23 Operation Freshman 169

Chapter 24 The Italian Navigator 180

Part IV 1943

Chapter 25 Secret Messages 187

Chapter 26 Operation Gunnerside 191

Chapter 27 Consolations of Philosophy 207

Chapter 28 "The Fun Will Start" 214

Chapter 29 Seeing Red 220

Chapter 30 Beautiful Peenemünde 226

Chapter 31 PT-109 234

Chapter 32 Blabbermouth 238

Chapter 33 Heavy Water under Fire 243

Chapter 34 Alsos 250

Part V 1944

Chapter 35 Busy Lizzie 257

Chapter 36 Groves's Second Assault 261

Chapter 37 The Ferry 264

Chapter 38 Sharks 271

Chapter 39 Biscay Blues 276

Chapter 40 The Fat Captain 281

Chapter 41 Augers & Peppermint 284

Chapter 42 Remus 289

Chapter 43 Aphrodite vs. Anvil 296

Chapter 44 Valkyrie 304

Chapter 45 Escape and Resistance 308

Chapter 46 Lightning-A 312

Chapter 47 Zootsuit Black 324

Chapter 48 Catching Pretty Well 332

Chapter 49 "I'll Be Seeing You" 335

Chapter 50 The Quisling Zoo 339

Chapter 51 Healthy Rays, Healthy Teeth, Healthy Paranoia 345

Chapter 52 The Deadliest Hombre 351

Chapter 53 Nazi U 359

Chapter 54 Uncertainty, Principles 366

Part VI 1945

Chapter 55 Operation Big 377

Chapter 56 The Lonely Organist 386

Chapter 57 Triumph and Loss 391

Chapter 58 Goimany 398

Chapter 59 The Bomb Drops 404

Epilogues: 1946 and Beyond 412

A Thank-You and a Bonus 421

Acknowledgments 423

Major Characters 425

Minor Characters 427

Sources 429

Index 435

Editorial Reviews

07/01/2019

Science writer Kean (The Disappearing Spoon) switches topics with this sprawling history of the Western spies, soldiers, and scientists who worked to thwart Nazi development of a nuclear bomb, accompanied by helpful cartoon illustrations of the relevant scientific concepts. The chronological account begins by introducing a large cast, including Samuel Goudsmit, an emigre physicist; Moe Berg, a pro baseball catcher turned spy; Boris Pash, a WWI vet who commanded the book’s titular brigade; and Navy airman Joseph Kennedy Jr., who died as part of a failed mission to destroy German missile bunkers suspected of being nuclear bomb silos. The point of view shifts among these and other characters, taking them through various adventures, including the bombing of a Norwegian ferry carrying heavy water for Nazi nuclear reactors and an attempt to assassinate German physicist Werner Heisenberg. Kean often takes a jokey tone, which readers will either love or hate (describing Marie Curie, he writes “the old lioness roused herself and barged into the lab”), and the majority of sources are secondary, leaving it unclear how he reconstructed dialogue. Readers who love spy stories will enjoy this entertaining book, but WWII aficionados and scholars may want to pass it by. Agent: Rick Broadhead, Rick Broadhead & Associates Literary Agency. (July)

Publishers Weekly

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 Brigadeis 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

From the Publisher

This audiobook asks what a Major League catcher, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist, and a member of one of America’s most famous families have in common? They all participated in espionage to help the U.S. develop the atomic bomb before the Nazis could. While this story is true, it’s also a cracking thriller. Narrator Ben Sullivan does his best, using his deep voice and deliberate style, to entice listeners with the facts, and he alter his voice to denote characters. But while Sullivan delivers every word clearly and paces the book effectively, he fails to infuse enough excitement and emotion to carry the story forward. Better engagement would make the audiobook flow more smoothly rather than simply sounding like spoken words. R.I.G. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine

OCTOBER 2019 - AudioFile

This audiobook asks what a Major League catcher, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist, and a member of one of America’s most famous families have in common? They all participated in espionage to help the U.S. develop the atomic bomb before the Nazis could. While this story is true, it’s also a cracking thriller. Narrator Ben Sullivan does his best, using his deep voice and deliberate style, to entice listeners with the facts, and he alter his voice to denote characters. But while Sullivan delivers every word clearly and paces the book effectively, he fails to infuse enough excitement and emotion to carry the story forward. Better engagement would make the audiobook flow more smoothly rather than simply sounding like spoken words. R.I.G. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine

OCTOBER 2019 - AudioFile

2019-05-26
An exciting history of the battle for atomic supremacy during World War II.

The core mission of the quasi-military group called "Alsos," part of the Manhattan Project, which was led by colorful scientist Boris Pash, was to determine the extent of Nazi efforts to produce an atomic bomb and to thwart it by any means possible. The Reich, after all, had world-class physicists like Nobel laureate Werner Heisenberg. The Allies, too, had considerable talent, most notably Enrico Fermi. Science writer Kean (Caesar's Last Breath: Decoding the Secrets of the Air Around Us, 2017, etc.) enlists several supporting players who had largely incidental, though dramatic, parts in the effort to deny the Germans' attempts to create an atomic bomb. There was Moe Berg, a spy and professional baseball catcher, who had the chance to capture or kill Heisenberg—but he was uncertain. Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. perished in a nutty scheme to destroy what was thought to be a delivery system for nuclear weapons. The cast of characters, all well delineated by the author, include Irène Joliot-Curie and Frédéric Joliot, Robert Oppenheimer, Wernher von Braun, and Gen. Leslie Groves. "Known as a brilliant but ruthless manager—simultaneously the best construction foreman and the biggest asshole in the military—Groves was in charge of all army construction within the United States and on offshore bases at the war's outset," writes the author, who helps readers keep other characters straight with amusing descriptors: A colonel at Rennes was a "big swinging dick"; a "babbling" Neils Bohr "was simply incapable of keeping his trap shut." Throughout, Kean eschews erudite fastidiousness for consistent action and brio. Beginning with the title, the narrative is an engrossing cinematic drama, not an academic text. (Spoiler: Hitler, who was never much interested in science, lost.)

Vivid derring-do moves swiftly through a carefully constructed espionage thriller.

Kirkus Reviews