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The Epic Mission to Sabotage Hitler's Atomic Bomb
by Neal Bascomb
From the internationally acclaimed, best-selling author of Hunting Eichmann and The Perfect Mile, an epic adventure and spy story about the greatest act of sabotage in all of World War II.
It's 1942 and the Nazis are racing to be the first to build a weapon unlike any known before. They have the physicists, they have the uranium, and now all their plans depend on amassing a single ingredient: heavy water, which is produced in Norway's Vemork, the lone plant in all the world that makes this rare substance. Under threat of death, Vemork's engineers push production into overdrive.
For the Allies, the plant must be destroyed. But how would they reach the castle fortress set on a precipitous gorge in one of the coldest, most inhospitable places on Earth?
Based on a trove of top secret documents and never-before-seen diaries and letters of the saboteurs, The Winter Fortress is an arresting chronicle of a brilliant scientist, a band of spies on skies, perilous survival in the wild, sacrifice for one's country, Gestapo manhunts, soul-crushing setbacks, and a last-minute operation that would end any chance Hitler could obtain the atomic bomb - and alter the course of the war.
"Starred Review. An exciting, thorough account ... Featuring excellent characterization and exquisite detail concerning a theater of the war (Norway) not well-mined, this will make a terrific addition to World War II collections." - Kirkus
"Starred Review. Gripping ... Parts of the book read like an adventure novel, others like straightforward history, but the combination will appeal to readers of both WWII fiction and nonfiction." - Booklist
"This well-told and deeply researched account sheds light on an aspect of World War II that is little known or remembered, creating a valuable history that will be beneficial for most collections." - Library Journal
"Much of the information Bascomb shares has been detailed elsewhere, but this is still a fascinating read about how a small group of Norwegians refused to submit to the brutal occupation of their country and contributed significantly to Allied victory." - Publishers Weekly
"Weaving together his typically intense research and a riveting narrative, Neal Bascomb's The Winter Fortress is a spellbinding piece of historical writing." - Martin Dugard, author of Into Africa and co-author of the "Killing" series
"Written with great verve and historical acumen, Bascomb hits the mark of excellence. Highly recommended!" - Douglas Brinkley, New York Times bestselling author of The Great Deluge and Cronkite
"What would have happened if Hitler had managed to develop nuclear weapons? In The Winter Fortress, Neal Bascomb brilliantly tells the extraordinary true story of arguably the most important and daring commando raid of WWII: how an amazing band of men on skis made sure Hitler never got to drop the ultimate bomb." – Alex Kershaw, New York Times bestselling author of The Longest Winter
"Bascomb's riveting prose puts the reader into one of the more daring missions of the war and the Allies' efforts to sabotage a crucial aspect of Germany's nuclear program. An excellent read." - Patrick K. O'Donnell, bestselling author of First Seals and Washington's Immortals
This information about The Winter Fortress was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Neal Bascomb is the New York Times bestselling author of Hunting Eichmann, The Perfect Mile, Higher, and Red Mutiny, among others. His books have won several national awards and been published in over twenty countries. A former international journalist, he is a widely recognized speaker on the subject of World War II. He lives in Seattle, Washington.
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