American Raiders: The Race to Capture the Luftwaffe's Secrets Book

This book overall is very informative if a bit dry at times. It includes a treasure trove of information in narrative form about the little known aspects of WW2, while most people are familiar with the transfer of German scientists to America under Operation Paperclip, very few are aware of the more conventional technology we sought to exploit towards the end of the war. It extensively covers how we acquired learned to operate and transferred the various aircraft particularly the first Jet fighter the ME-262 and the first dedicated jet bomber the Arado AR-234 as well as giving an insight into little known German technology and how much the average american pilot or servicemen knew about it. It describes the training of Americans to fly the German jets and the German pilots who helped them to do so. It also goes into detail regarding the tensions between the allies on who got access to what, and the foreshadowing of the coming Cold War.

Overall this book is a great read for those interested in WW2 aviation and technology, it is well researched and interesting. Its negative aspects is that is sometimes seems to jump back and forth or talk about something but then only go into detail about it a few chapters later. This can make it a tad confusing. At other times some information and details seem a bit extraneous and at times seems to repeat itself, it can feel more like filler then content.

This book is not nor does it read as a textbook, and anyone with basic knowledge of WW2 wont have issues understanding its context. Despite this however I would not recommend it to a casual reader but only to someone who is very interested in aviation history and technology in WW2, because it is such a niche topic and long book, it would probably be boring and uninteresting to the casual reader. My recommendation is more about personal preference then the quality of the book, if you are very much into aviation technology and WW2 then this belongs on your bookshelf.