German Rocketeers in the Heart of Dixie: Making Sense of the Nazi Past during the Civil Rights Era
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.25 (884 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0300198035 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 320 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2013-07-28 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Fascinating raw historical data, no clear answers On the plus side, this book is an in-depth investigation of a tremendously interesting historical juxtaposition that weaves together some of the most important threads in mid-20th century history. On the negative side, while the author is able to compile some fascinating observations, she is not able to build any sort of larger meaning from the account. The other good news/bad news is the author is a careful researcher and fine writer, with dual qualifications (German and Alabamian) to investigate and understand this story; but she adapted it from her PhD dissertation and left in so
In 1950, Wernher von Braun and his team of rocket experts relocated to Huntsville, Alabama, a town that would celebrate the team, despite their essential role in the recent Nazi war effort, for their contributions to the U.S. Based on oral histories, provided by members of the African American and Jewish communities, and by the rocketeers’ families, co-workers, friends, and neighbors, Laney’s book demonstrates how the histories of German Nazism and Jim Crow in the American South intertwine in narratives about the past. Army missile program and later to NASA’s space program. government–assisted integration of German rocket specialists and their fami
“Laney, a daughter of Alabama and Germany, has produced an insightful, nuanced study of a unique historical phenomenon: the moral and cognitive dissonance that ensues when former agents of the Third Reich are transplanted to a segregated southern community and charged with winning the Cold War space race.”—Diane McWhorter, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Carry Me Home