The Secret War

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{detailed description}The 1939-45 War was a struggle as much between scientists as fighting men. The need, on both sides, to counter the enemy's technological ingenuity was a spur to scientific invention. The BBC1 television programmes looked at six key areas of the 'back-room' secret war.
Brian Johnson, who produced the series, has expanded them for his book. He first covers the Battle of the Beams - Knickebein and the other aids which enabled the Luftwaffe to bomb England with such accuracy, and shows how these aids were countered. He then looks at the invention of radar, the vital element in the British defence system, and the development by both sides of navigational and homing radar for their aircraft. Terror Weapons is the story of the development of the V1 and V2 by German scientists under Wernher von Braun and the British countermeasures devised by Professor R. V. Jones and his colleagues. Battle of the Atlantic examines the naval secret war against the U-boat -ASDIC, depth charges, escort carriers, various devices, like the Leigh Light, produced for Coastal Command aircraft, and German counters. In Misfortunes of War Brian Johnson recalls some of the fantastic weapons which, like the magnetic mine, had to be countered quickly, or, like 40-ton gliders, rocket-powered guided missiles and 'the Great Panjandrum', were never properly developed, or which, like the jet-fighter, just came too late. Finally, in Enigma, he tells the war's best-kept secret - how the British broke the German codes.
The book is fully illustrated with over 350 photographs and diagrams.
{Author / Publisher / Date}by Brian Johnson
published by BBC 1978 1st edn. 352pp illustrated, index. 18x25
{condition}very good, inc. d/j.
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