the author had a hidden agenda when he wrote this book of linking Von Braun to Nazi atrocities. That agenda clouded his ability to write a clear perspective of Von Braun's career. He brings in other historians with a similar bent and refers to their opinions when making his points. Combine with the author's poor writing style and you find a throughly unreadable biography. The only saving grace is a few bits of information that if surfaced on the US space program not found in other books.

Previously published biographys of Wernher von Braun have been largely hagiographic based on the high success levels and extensive promotion of the U.S. Space Program for which von Braun received a great deal of earned and some unearned credit. He was, without doubt, a brilliant and goal oriented man. But, as were many in Germany during the Nazi years, he was an opportunist, willing to achieve his desired goals without regard to the consequences for other people or concern for the organizations that he supported and which, in turn, supported his cause.

The author's extensive research is thoroughly documented in the notes and bibliography. It includes much data that was classified by the United States Government and withheld from the public during von Braun's lifetime. That von Braun was a working and supportive member of the Nazi Party has now been publicized, well documented and backed up with many previously classified records made available to the public through the Freedom of Information Act.

This book shows a more complete picture of who and what Wernher von Braun was prior to his move to the United States as well as his involvement in the U.S. Space Program. It does not change but presents a much more complete, correct and balanced view of history. It presents "The Rest of the Story".

The author's easy to read style presents accurate history in a well documented, chronological order. This book is easy reading and compellingly interesting to anyone looking for a more complete and accurate history of World War II, Rocket Development, and the Space Race that achieved such accomplishments as placing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth along with samples of moon rocks and pictures of the earth from the moon.

Specifically, this book shows the underlying character of von Braun and his unrelenting drive to achieve these goals at any price.

I really liked this book. It was well read, well researched. I don't see it as having a bias, but a point, and a point well taken. Taken in context, Werner von Braun was no more and no less than a German, and a product of his times. He was a leader in his field in Germany, and in America. What stands out for me is what this book says about America and, in particular, the United States Army.

This book has the most thorough documentation of Project Paperclip that I have seen yet. While presenting as balanced a perception as possible about why certain things played out the way they did, it is indeed troublesome that the high-tech space industry was balanced on the backs of slave labor from its inception, and definitely seems to be moving even further in that direction today throughout corporate America and the New World Order. This is no accident.

Nor is Werner von Braun the ultimate Evil. He was a human being who was exploited as so many are and wanted only to do his best work. Germans were raised, through their educational system, to respect and obey authority without question. This, too, is where our public education system is trying to go.

I bought the book in particular for its chapter on his work with Disney. I was not disappointed. You won't be either.

Misses the imprisonment for high treason on march 15th 1943, og Rieder VB and Dr Grottning. This was for saying in public that germany was losing the war and that they were more interested in building spaceships than weapons of war. Also the A4 was not a cost effective weapon. If the efforts had been put into fighter planes WWII would have dragged on alot longer. One ton of HE for the industrial cost of 6 jet fighters was probably the biggest sabotage of the nazi effort ever made. All it did was benifit spaceflight and science. Unbalanced. No historical perspective sensationalist trash.

Piszkiewicz does a good job with getting the historical documentation down but fails miserably when he outs his obvious anti-Von braun spin to them. He constantly speculates without facts about Von Braun's thoughts, beliefs and motives, always casting them in a negative manner. He goes into detail about Himmler's attempts to eliminate Von Braun and the danger that posed and still castigates Von Braun for not acting to help the Dora workers. He dedicates the book to the V2 and Dora victims which seems to be why he wrote this revisionist tale. It is his way to find someone to blame and Von Braun seems to be as good as target as any for the author to attack. He admits the V2 was not an effective weapon yet he ignores the huge drain on resources that it had on the German war machine. This drain was praised by Winston Churchill for keeping more planes and guns off the field of battle, saving lives. He also twists quotes and facts out of context, a sin for a historian. This book is not about history so much as it is an attempt to discredit Von Braun. No documentation or factual evidence is ever presented to show Von Braun could have done anything to help the Dora workers. Von Braun was not a saint but neither was he a war criminal.

(A numerical rating, as above, is required by the new Amazon format. It is offensive to this reviewer and explicitly disavowed.)

Author Piszkiewicz recounts the whole history of German rocketry, from its beginnings through the rocketeers' pact with the Devil, and on to their historical rehabilitation at the hands of the Americans who wanted their expertise.

Piszkiewicz sets the record straight, reminding us that Wernher von Braun, for instance, was a Sturmbannfuhrer (Major) in the SS who went to Buchenwald personally to select slave laborers to staff his V-2 missile plants.

Very interesting reading for students of the origins of the Space Age, military history buffs, and others who would understand the practical applications of realpolitik.