The Pentagon's Brain by Annie Jacobsen

The Pentagon's Brain

by Annie Jacobsen

No one has ever written the history of the Defense Department's most secret, most powerful, and most controversial military science R&D agency. In this first-ever, in depth account of the organization, New York Times bestselling author Annie Jacobsen draws on inside sources, exclusive interviews, private documents, and declassified memos to paint a picture of DARPA, or "the Pentagon's brain," from its Cold War inception in 1958 to the present. This is the book on DARPA-- a compelling narrative about the clandestine intersection of science and the American military and the often frightening results.

Reviewed by jamiereadthis on

4 of 5 stars

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Damn. It’s the usual ‘if this is what’s unclassified, they’re doing orders of magnitude worse.’ And we punish the whistleblowers instead of those involved.

That’s where the book fell short, though; it could have delved harder on the privacy and, y’know, war crimes stuff. But that’s a different book, I suppose.

Also I learned the Pentagon has an initiative where they consult with popular science fiction writers, so the last chapter was Jacobsen tagging along with Chris Carter (The X-Files) and Gale Anne Hurd (The Terminator) to the Pentagon, and frankly that’s terrifying.

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  • 26 July, 2019: Reviewed