Discover the definitive history of DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency, in this Pulitzer Prize finalist from the author of the New York Times bestseller Area 51.
No one has ever written the history of the Defense Department's most secret, most powerful, and most controversial military science R&D agency. In the first-ever history about the organization, New York Times bestselling author Annie Jacobsen draws on inside sources, exclusive interviews, private documents, and declassified memos to paint a picture of DARPA, or "the Pentagon's brain," from its Cold War inception in 1958 to the present.
This is the book on DARPA -- a compelling narrative about this clandestine intersection of science and the American military and the often frightening results.
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"Interesting how the goverment works they don’t change much throug times politics control everything"
— Sm (5 out of 5 stars)
“Annie Jacobsen’s considerable talents as an investigative journalist prove indispensable in uncovering the remarkable history of one of America’s most powerful and clandestine military research agencies.”
— Gerald Posner, author of God’s Bankers“Filled with the intrigue and high stakes of a spy novel, Jacobsen’s history of DARPA is as much a fascinating testament to human ingenuity as it is a paean to endless industrial warfare and the bureaucracy of the military-industrial complex.”
— Kirkus ReviewsPulitzer Prize Finalist in History
One of The Washington Post's Notable Nonfiction Books of 2015
One of The Boston Globe's Best Books of 2015
One of Amazon's Top 100 Books of 2015
A brilliantly researched account of a small but powerful secret government agency whose military research profoundly affects world affairs.
— The Pulitzer Prize CommitteeFilled with the intrigue and high stakes of a spy novel, Jacobsen's history of DARPA is as much a fascinating testament to human ingenuity as it is a paean to endless industrial warfare and the bureaucracy of the military-industrial complex.
— Kirkus ReviewsA fascinating and unsettling portrait of the secretive U.S. government agency....Jacobsen walks a fine line in telling the story of the agency and its innovations without coming across as a cheerleader or a critic, or letting the narrative devolve into a salacious tell-all. Jacobsen's ability to objectively tell the story of DARPA, not to mention its murky past, is truly remarkable, making for a terrifically well-crafted treatise on the agency most Americans know next to nothing about.
— Publishers Weekly (starred review)Jacobsen offers a definitive history of the clandestine agency.... She explores the implications of DARPA work on technology that will not be widely known to the public for generations but will certainly impact national security and concepts of war.
— Vanessa Bush, Booklist (starred review)Jacobsen's account will serve as the model for histories of military research and development and is likely to lead to more works and articles about DARPA.... Engrossing, conversation-starting read...
— Library JournalAnnie Jacobsen's considerable talents as an investigative journalist prove indispensable in uncovering the remarkable history of one of America's most powerful and clandestine military research agencies. And she is a great storyteller, making the tantalizing tale of The Pentagon's Brain -- from the depths of the Cold War to present day -- come alive on every page.
— Gerald Posner, author of God's BankersA fascinating and sometimes uneasy exploration of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency....
— Dina Temple-Raston, The Washington PostIn this fascinating and terrifying account, Annie Jacobsen regales us with the stories behind the agency's 'consequential and sometimes Orwellian' innovations, including autonomous weapons systems--killer robots that could decide, without human intervention, who lives and who dies.
— Bryan Schatz, Mother JonesAnnie Jacobsen has a gift for unearthing secret, long-buried information.
— Mary Ann Gwinn, Seattle TimesAn exciting read that asks an important question: what is the risk of allowing lethal technologies to be developed in secret?
— Ann Finkbeiner, NatureThe Pentagon's Brain puts Jacobsen in the company of important writers ... such as Shane Harris and Rajiv Chandrasekran.
— Chris Bray, BookforumAnnie Jacobsen is the author of the Pulitzer Prize finalist in history The Pentagon’s Brain, the New York Times bestsellers Area 51 and Operation Paperclip, and other books. Her books have been named Best Book of the Year and Most Anticipated by outlets including the Washington Post, USA Today, and other outlets. A graduate of Princeton University, she was a contributing editor at the Los Angeles Times Magazine.
John C. Maxwell, known as America’s expert on leadership, speaks to hundreds of thousands of people each year. He has communicated his leadership principles to Fortune 500 companies, the United States Military Academy at West Point, and sports organizations such as the NCAA, the NBA, and the NFL. A New York Times bestselling author, he has written more than thirty books, including Winning with People and Today Matters. Two of his books, Developing the Leader within You and The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, have sold more than one million copies apiece.