Annie Jacobsen is the author of the New York Times bestsellers Area 51 and Operation Paperclip and was a contributing editor at the Los Angeles Times Magazine. A graduate of Princeton University, she lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two sons.
Praise for Operation Paperclip "The most in depth account yet of
the lives of Paperclip recruits and their American counterparts....
Jacobsen deftly untangles the myriad German and American agencies
and personnel involved...more gripping and skillfully rendered are
the stories of American and British officials who scoured defeated
Germany for Nazi scientists and their research."--New York Times
Book Review
Praise for Phenomena
Featured on New York Times' Paperback Row
One of USA Today's New and Noteworthy Picks! "With Phenomena, Annie
Jacobsen has once again produced an utterly absorbing and
brilliantly reported chronicle that truly breaks new ground. This
is a boundary-breaking story of mental phenomena-extra sensory
perception techniques-that is truly a pleasure to read. A
mind-bending triumph!"--Alex Kershaw, bestselling author of The
Liberator and Avenue of Spies
Praise for The Pentagon's Brain "Annie Jacobsen's considerable
talents as an investigative journalist prove indispensable in
uncovering the remarkable history of one of America's most powerful
and clandestine military research agencies. And she is a great
storyteller, making the tantalizing tale of The Pentagon's Brain --
from the depths of the Cold War to present day -- come alive on
every page."--Gerald Posner, author of God's Bankers
"A fascinating and unsettling portrait of the secretive U.S.
government agency....Jacobsen walks a fine line in telling the
story of the agency and its innovations without coming across as a
cheerleader or a critic, or letting the narrative devolve into a
salacious tell-all. Jacobsen's ability to objectively tell the
story of DARPA, not to mention its murky past, is truly remarkable,
making for a terrifically well-crafted treatise on the agency most
Americans know next to nothing about."
--Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"A nonfiction story with a sci-fi feel"--Time Magazine
"Annie Jacobsen has written an entertaining narrative of the many
salaried people in our government who have supported the
exploration of psychic phenomena....Much of the information
presented is already known, but Jacobsen has accomplished the
gargantuan feat of bulldozing it all into one place. She has a keen
eye for amusing anecdotes, and writes them up with convincing
detail. More than that, Jacobsen has arranged her story in a kind
of nonfiction picaresque novel."--Dick Teresi, New York Times Book
Review
"Annie Jacobsen is back with a new tome that should entice anyone
who doesn't mind thinking outside the box; or as referenced in her
book, as if there is no box....Not only is it a well-researched and
fascinating tale, but there are some lessons for anyone wanting to
truly break the mold in business."--Simon Constable, Forbes
"As comprehensive as it is critical, this latest expose from
Jacobsen is perhaps her most important work to date.... Jacobsen
persuasively shows that it in fact happened and aptly frames the
dilemma.... Rife with hypocrisy, lies, and deceit, Jacobsen's story
explores a conveniently overlooked bit of history."--Publishers
Weekly (starred)
"Chilling, compelling, and comprehensive accounting.... Jacobsen's
impressive book plumbs the dark depths of this postwar recruiting
and shows the historical truths behind the space race and postwar
US dominance. Highly recommended for readers in World War II
history, espionage, government cover-ups, or the Cold
War."--Library Journal (starred)
"Compelling....This is an excellent read that gives evidence on
both sides of the argument that extrasensory perception (ESP) and
psychokinesis exist, complementing suchworks as W. Adam
Mandelbaum's The Psychic Battlefield and Ann Finkbeiner's The
Jasons. Highly recommended for those interested in the military and
the paranormal." --Library Journal (starred review)
"Filled with the intrigue and high stakes of a spy novel,
Jacobsen's history of DARPA is as much a fascinating testament to
human ingenuity as it is a paean to endless industrial warfare and
the bureaucracy of the military-industrial complex."--Kirkus
Reviews
"Gripping....It blew my mind."--Tom Ashbrook, WBUR's "On Point"
"Important, superbly written.... Jacobsen's book allows us to
explore these questions with the ultimate tool: hard evidence. She
confronts us with the full extent of Paperclip's deal with the
devil, and it's difficult to look away."--Matt Damsker, USA Today
(4 stars)
"In her latest eye-opening work of investigative journalism,
Jacobsen digs deeply into the rich vein of information gleaned from
declassified U.S. government documents that catapulted her previous
books, Area 51 (2011) and The Pentagon's Brain (2015), to
best-seller status.... Jacobsen offers a smorgasbord of captivating
and often-surprising facts unearthed from more than four decades of
secret investigations... A fascinating peek at a little-seen side
of national security."--Carl Hays, Booklist
"Jacobsen journeys into the realm where the paranormal and the
bureaucratic meet.... she looks into the men-who-stare-at-goats
investigations of the government, programs born of the Cold War and
the need to combat the Red Menace on all fronts, including the
extrasensory.... entertaining reading... The occultly inclined will
by duly enchanted."--Kirkus
"Journalist Jacobsen continues her disturbing excavations of the
inner workings of the American defense and intelligence
establishment in this fascinating exposé of governmental research
into 'anomalous mental phenomena'....Jacobsen artfully deals card
after dutifully researched card in her enthralling reportage on one
of America's most curious defense endeavors."--Publishers
Weekly
"Richly researched.... Jacobsen shows that, in the face of
inexplicable events, even 'the most pragmatic, commonsense thinkers
found themselves uncertain.'"--The New Yorker
"With Annie Jacobsen's OPERATION PAPERCLIP for the first time the
enormity of the effort has been laid bare. The result is a book
that is at once chilling and riveting, and one that raises
substantial and difficult questions about national honor and
security...This book is a remarkable achievement of investigative
reporting and historical writing."--Boston Globe
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