The Rocket and the Reich: Peenemunde and the Coming of the Ballistic Missile Era

by Michael J. Neufeld

WINNER OF THE DEXTER PRIZE OF THE SOCIETY FOR THE HISTORY OF TECHNOLOGY

Launched by the Third Reich in late 1944, the first ballistic missile, the V-2, fell on London, Paris, and Antwerp after covering nearly two hundred miles in five minutes. It was a stunning achievement, one that heralded a new age of ballistic missiles and space launch vehicles. Michael J. Neufeld gives the first comprehensive and accurate account of the story behind one of the greatest engineering feats of World War II. At a time when rockets were minor battlefield weapons, Germany ushered in a new form of warfare that would bequeath a long legacy of terror to the Cold War, as well as the means to go into space. Both the US and USSR's rocket programs had their origins in the Nazi state.

Genres: History, Science, Nonfiction, World War II, Technology, Space, Military History

400 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1994

About the author

Michael J. Neufeld is Senior Curator in the Space History Department of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. He has appeared on History Channel, PBS, NPR, and BBC programs, and is the author of the award-winning The Rocket and the Reich, Von Braun, and other books.

Reviews

[Matěj · Rating 4 out of 5]

Neufeld's account of the rocket development can be dry and the endless discussion on Third Reich bureaucracy are often tedious but on the whole he presents a really well researched book. It is rife with technical jargon and yet quite easy to understand even to somebody who is not well-versed in ballistics and the like. It is a good choice if you are looking for an introduction into the German rocket program (that is, Weimar and later Nazi efforts).

[ERIC PECHINOT · Rating 3 out of 5]

It certainly ruffles Russian (or more accurately Soviet at the time) and American jingoism, but let's face it, without the brilliant minds of German engineer Wernher von Braun and his colleagues, it would have taken much much longer to put together the space craft needed to send Yuri Gagarin on his way to an unparalleled 108 minutes of world fame, and then Neil Armstrong for a walk on the Moon. Mankind would also by the way have enjoyed a longer reprieve from the looming threat of ballistic missiles and the likelihhood of all-out war and annihilation with hardly a warning.
All this is very well documented here and we are also told that if the Nazis' endeavour in trailblazing rocketry and "secret weapons" such as the infamous V2 rockets came to fruition way too late in the course of the war to turn the tables on Germany's enemies, it also came at a dreadful human cost. Pennemünde was indeed always depending on a massive use of forced labour. I was sensitive to the fact that this aspect was not left in the dark. Too often than not in their official narrative indeed, when nations pride themselves on their achievements, including their ability to make a serious threat to their would-be adversaries, dislikes and ugly stuff are always swept under the carpet. This book reminds us of what needs reminding and I like it for that.

[Suraj · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is 1929 - the Great Depression. A theatre in Berlin is playing a sci-fi movie “The Woman in the Moon” and Hermann Oberth (the German father of rocketry) is about to launch a rocket. Enthusiasm for spaceflight is at its height – the Wiemar spaceflight movement. Amidst all this an Army officer seizes the fervour for rocketry as a chance to further avenge the harsh terms of the Versailles Treaty on German military. His idea – turn this spaceflight fad into a new weapon that could potentially turn the tables in the favour of his fatherland.

And so begins the journey of manipulation, deception, innovation, oppression, rivalry and co-operation to develop what would, in less than two decades, become the V-2.

A truly revealing read.

[TS Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The most fundamental flaw in [German] thinking lay in the lack of any well-thought-out strategic concept of how the missile could actually affect the course of the war. Becker, Dornberger, and their associates counted on the psychological shock to the enemy of an unfamiliar and powerful weapon... Thus, in a fundamental sense the A-4 [missile] was another Paris Gun."

[Tom Schwarz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyable if you already have some context around the figures involved. Not as technology focused as I would have preferred. Obviously pretty damning of any claim by paperclipped Apollo engineers that they were not aware of poor worker conditions/slavery etc.

[Max Lovelady · Rating 3 out of 5]

I could not pronounce the german words in the book.

[iain meek · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent history of German rocketry up to the end of the 2nd World War in 1945.

It rather tarnishes the team who went on to provide the basis for much American and Russian spacecraft, as well it should, for their willing use of slave labour and the horrendous deaths that this policy caused.

A fortunate by-products of the rocketry projects is that it required huge resources which were therefore unavailable to the Nazis in their fight against the Allies. Interesting to read that more people, unfortunately mostly slave labourers, died building the V2 than were killed by the weapon's use.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Real insight into origins and problems of original ballistic missile technologies. Includes balanced discussion of the horrors in production and the misguided strategy underlying an amazing technology, and avoids over-emphasis on von Braun. Can be a challenge to keep track of the detailed timeline and multiple characters involved. Would have been interesting to hear more about the management strategies of the development process.

[Philski · Rating 4 out of 5]

it was a good, well sourced historical review of rocket development in Nazi Germany from the rocket societies to Peenemunde to Mittelwurks to capture by the Americans, Brits and Russians. Somewhat cold and surgical in its presentation. I prefered Dieter Huzel's telling of the story in "From Peenemunde to Canaveral" as it's a first person narrative and shared some unique events overlooked in this history book.

[Pierce · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good, even-handed history of the horrors of the V2 program and the involvement of many of the key people in the American space program.

[Cira · Rating 4 out of 5]

a bit uneven, but comprehensive.