{"product_id":"american-raiders-wolfgang-w-e-samuel-9781578066490","title":"American Raiders: The Race to Capture the Luftwaffe's Secrets","description":"At the close of World War II, Allied forces faced frightening new German secret weapons--buzz bombs, V-2's, and the first jet fighters. When Hitler's war machine began to collapse, the race was on to snatch these secrets before the Soviet Red Army found them. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e The last battle of World War II, then, was not for military victory but for the technology of the Third Reich. In \u003ci\u003eAmerican Raiders: The Race to Capture the Luftwaffe's Secrets\u003c\/i\u003e, Wolfgang W. E. Samuel assembles from official Air Force records and survivors' interviews the largely untold stories of the disarmament of the once mighty Luftwaffe and of Operation Lusty--the hunt for Nazi technologies. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In April 1945 American armies were on the brink of winning their greatest military victory, yet America's technological backwardness was shocking when measured against that of the retreating enemy. Senior officers, including the Commanding General of the Army Air Forces Henry Harley \"Hap\" Arnold, knew all too well the seemingly overwhelming victory was less than it appeared. There was just too much luck involved in its outcome. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Two intrepid American Army Air Forces colonels set out to regain America's technological edge. One, Harold E. Watson, went after the German jets; the other, Donald L. Putt, went after the Nazis' intellectual capital--their world-class scientists. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e With the help of German and American pilots, Watson brought the jets to America; Putt persevered as well and succeeded in bringing the German scientists to the Army Air Forces' aircraft test and evaluation center at Wright Field. A young P-38 fighter pilot, Lloyd Wenzel, a Texan of German descent, then turned these enemy aliens into productive American citizens--men who built the rockets that took America to the moon, conquered the sound barrier, and laid the foundation for America's civil and military aviation of the future. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003ci\u003eAmerican Raiders: The Race to Capture the Luftwaffe's Secrets\u003c\/i\u003e details the contest won, a triumph that shaped America's victories in the Cold War.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Wolfgang W. E. Samuel\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1578066492\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781578066490\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University Press of Mississippi\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 04\/22\/2004\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 493\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 2.21lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.36h x 6.42w x 1.53d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eUniv PR Books for Public Libry\u003c\/i\u003e 01\/01\/2005 pg. 89 - Strongly Recommended","brand":"Wolfgang W. E. Samuel","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":43980123209983,"sku":"9781578066490","price":29.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_4c6defca-1979-47d5-8aa6-6047458ee116.jpg?v=1683248530","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/american-raiders-wolfgang-w-e-samuel-9781578066490","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}