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Area 51: An Uncensored History Of America's Top Secret Military Base (2011)

by Annie Jacobsen(Favorite Author)

3.69 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

0316132942 (ISBN13: 9780316132947)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Little, Brown & Company (Boston)

review 1: This could have been a great book about the development of top secret spy planes that were tested at Area 51. It was overall a great book, until the author delved into the usual UFO/Alien conspiracies most associated with Area 51. Her interview with someone known as an engineer makes numerous outlandish claims, which the author presents as absolute truth. Her theory about the origin of the object that crashed at Roswell was different, so that was interesting. This book also covers some of what was done at the Nevada Test Site, which I greatly enjoyed. Overall, I think the author ruined what seemed like a well written book with a very badly done conspiracy filled chapter. It could have been five stars.
review 2: I decided to read this book after reading Operatio... moren Paperclip by the same author (which I enjoyed). Although the book was mildly interesting, it was hard to separate fact from anecdote. In general terms, the book does cover some history of the Cold War and the actions taken by the United States in regard to advanced aeronautics. It is a good read if one is not overtaken by technical data.There were some glaring errors in some of the technical data. For instance, on page 176, the author states that the A12 Oxcart ". . . was 160,000 pounds of titanium outfitted with . . ." The empty weight of the Oxcart was approximately 53,000 pounds, and not all of that was titanium. Fully fueled, the maximum takeoff gross weight was approximately 120,000 pounds. On page 188, the author refers to the Lockheed Constellation as a "twin prop." The Constellation was a quad prop, an aircraft with four engines. On page 196, the author cites the YF-12A variant as designed to carry two 250 kiloton nuclear bombs. I believe the YF-12A was designed to carry the AIM-47 Falcon anti-aircraft missile. The nuclear warhead variant of that missile had a 1/4 kiloton warhead. less

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