Sioux Falls native and New York Times bestselling author Sam Kean will discuss his new book, The Bastard Brigade.
About The Bastard Brigade
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, could reverse the entire D-Day operation and conquer Europe. So they assembled a crew of geniuses and sent them careening into Axis territory to spy on, sabotage, and even assassinate members of Nazi Germany's feared Uranium Club.
The mission rivals the finest spy thriller, but it's the incredible characters - both heroes and rogues alike - who make this story sing. There's an ex-Major League baseball catcher turned clandestine spy. There's Joe Kennedy Jr., who died trying to out-macho his kid brother, future president John F. Kennedy. And many more. 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.
About the Author
Sioux Falls native Sam Kean is the New York Times bestselling author of The Dueling Neurosurgeons, The Disappearing Spoon, and The Violinist’s Thumb. His stories have appeared in The Best American Nature and Science Writing, The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, The New York Times Magazine, and Slate, and his work has been featured on NPR’s “Radiolab,” “Science Friday,” “All Things Considered,” and “Fresh Air.”
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