Atomic spy : the dark lives of Klaus Fuchs / Nancy Thorndike Greenspan
Material type:![Text](/opac-tmpl/lib/famfamfam/BK.png)
- text
- unmediated
- volume
- 0593083407
- 9780593083406
- Fuchs, Klaus Emil Julius, 1911-1988
- Spies -- Soviet Union -- Biography
- Spies -- Great Britain -- Biography
- Spies -- United States -- Biography
- Espionage, Soviet -- Great Britain -- History -- 20th century
- Espionage, Soviet -- United States -- History -- 20th century
- Physicists -- Germany -- Biography
- Nuclear weapons -- History -- 20th century
- UB271.R9 F8355 2021
Item type | Current library | Collection | Shelving location | Call number | Status | Notes | Date due | Barcode | Item holds |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adult Book | Phillipsburg Free Public Library | Adult Non-Fiction | New Books | 327.12470471092 GRE | Available | pap ed. | 36748002560805 |
Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
"Nancy Greenspan dives into the mysteries of the Klaus Fuchs espionage case and emerges with a classic Cold War biography of intrigue and torn loyalties. Atomic Spy is a mesmerizing morality tale, told with fresh sources and empathy." -Kai Bird, author of The Good Spy and coauthor of American Prometheus- The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer
The gripping biography of a notorious Cold War villain-the German-born British scientist who handed the Soviets top-secret American plans for the plutonium bomb-showing a man torn between conventional loyalties and a sense of obligation to a greater good.
German by birth, British by naturalization, Communist by conviction, Klaus Fuchs was a fearless Nazi resister, a brilliant scientist, and an infamous spy. He was convicted of espionage by Britain in 1950 for handing over the designs of the plutonium bomb to the Russians, and has gone down in history as one of the most dangerous agents in American and British history. He put an end to America's nuclear hegemony and single-handedly heated up the Cold War. But, was Klaus Fuchs really evil?
Using archives long hidden in Germany as well as intimate family correspondence, Nancy Thorndike Greenspan brings into sharp focus the moral and political ambiguity of the times in which Fuchs lived and the ideals with which he struggled. As a university student in Germany, he stood up to Nazi terror without flinching, and joined the Communists largely because they were the only ones resisting the Nazis. After escaping to Britain in 1933, he was arrested as a German emigre-an "enemy alien"-in 1940 and sent to an internment camp in Canada. His mentor at university, renowned physicist Max Born, worked to facilitate his release. After years of struggle and ideological conflict, when Fuchs joined the atomic bomb project, his loyalties were firmly split. He started handing over top secret research to the Soviets in 1941, and continued for years from deep within the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos. Greenspan's insights into his motivations make us realize how he was driven not just by his Communist convictions but seemingly by a dedication to peace, seeking to level the playing field of the world powers.
With thrilling detail from never-before-seen sources, Atomic Spy travels across the Germany of an ascendant Nazi party; the British university classroom of Max Born; a British internment camp in Canada; the secret laboratories of Los Alamos; and Eastern Germany at the height of the Cold War. Atomic Spy shows the real Klaus Fuchs-who he was, what he did, why he did it, and how he was caught. His extraordinary life is a cautionary tale about the ambiguity of morality and loyalty, as pertinent today as in the 1940s.
Place of publication from publisher's website
Includes bibliographical references (pages 387-389) and index
Prologue: Revelation, London, August 1949 -- I. Resistance. Beginnings, Leipzig 1930 -- Loss, Kiel 1931 -- Revolt, Kiel 1932 -- Leader, Kiel 1933 -- Underground, Berlin 1933 -- Interlude, Paris 1933 -- II. Rescue. Safety, Bristol 1933 -- War, Edinburgh 1937 -- Internment, England 1940 -- Internment, Canada 1940 -- III. Research. Tube Alloys, Birmingham 1941 -- Manhattan Project, New York 1943 -- Trinity, Los Alamos 1944 -- Director, Harwell 1946 -- IV. Reconnaissance. Suspects, London, September 1949 -- Surveillance, Harwell, September 1949 -- Disposal, London, October 1949 -- Interrogation, London, November 1949 -- V. Results. Disposal again, London, January 1950 -- Confession, Harwell, January 1950 -- Arrest, London, February 1950 -- Trial, London, March 1950 -- The FBI, London, May 1950 -- Prison, Wormwood Scrubs, 1950 and on -- VI. Return. East Germany, Berlin 1959 -- Expectations, Dresden 1960 -- Epilogue: Remembrances, Berlin March 1989
Klaus Fuchs was convicted of espionage by Britain in 1950 for handing over the designs of the plutonium bomb to the Russians, and has gone down in history as one of the most dangerous agents in American and British history. Using German archives and family correspondence, Greenspan brings into sharp focus the moral and political ambiguity of the times in which Fuchs lived. After years of struggle and ideological conflict, when Fuchs joined the atomic bomb project his loyalties were firmly split. He started handing over top secret research to the Soviets in 1941, and continued for years from deep within the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos, seemingly driven by a dedication to peace, seeking to level the playing field of the world powers. -- adapted from jacket