This a paperback edition of Professor Walker's full-scale examination of the German efforts to harness the economic, military and political power of nuclear fission between 1939 and 1949. The book explains clearly, in terms that the non-specialist can understand, what was involved in the Germans' quest, and in what ways the German scientists succeeded or failed in the development of 'the bomb'.

‘Walker’s study, a lucid and dispassionate account of a painful chapter in the history of science, deserves a wide readership.’

Source: The Guardian

‘… an excellent book: intensely researched, well written, and balanced in its judgments.’

Source: The American Historical Review

‘… an outstanding book which fills a gap in our knowledge of the Nazi war effort … superbly researched, convincingly argued and attacking the questions that matter.’

Source: The Financial Times

‘This view of Walker’s seems more accurate and is vitally important because subsequently, prominent German physicists, particularly Heisenberg, were to claim that, not only were they ‘only doing their duty’ but that they actually slowed down the Nazi bomb.’

Michael Hindley Source: Morning Star