Some books don't live up to the promise of the Title, while others, like this one, give more than expected from the title alone. Cornwell discusses many of Germany's leading scientists, some of whom chose to leave their homeland as the Nazi's came to power, others who felt compelled to stay due to their Nationalistic feelings, and others who willingly and knowingly participated in the racist philosophy of the Nazi's. But the book also give a lot of historical context of the era, from WWI up to and through the cold war well after the fall of Germany. There are also numerous parallel stories involving British and American scientific efforts, such as those involving code breaking and atomic weapon developments. And while its easy to condemn any German scientist who supported the Nazi war effort, Cornwell also reminds us that many of those same scientists were subsequently recruited by both Soviet and western governments after the war to work on rocket and weapon research programs for these Cold War opponents. The dilemma raised by the book, for scientists and citizens alike, is recognizing the difference between the necessity of fully supporting your duly elected leaders, and the personal decisions to be made if policies have drifted beyond recognized moral limits as during the Holocaust. ( )

Great read, compelling at times but becomes a little stale in the last eight of the book where his opinions encourage speed reading. ( )

Excellent, but should have stopped at section seven of perhaps six. The last sections are written as if the author is trying to fill pages, not with the same interest as the first part of the book. ( )

Actually I listened to it on CD. Very good and informative. ( )