Annie Jacobsen is the author of the New York Times bestsellers Area 51 and Operation Paperclip and was a contributing editor at the Los Angeles Times Magazine. A graduate of Princeton University, she lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two sons
Pulitzer Prize Finalist in History One of The Washington Post's
Notable Nonfiction Books of 2015 One of The Boston Globe's Best
Books of 2015 One of Amazon's Top 100 Books of 2015 "A brilliantly
researched account of a small but powerful secret government agency
whose military research profoundly affects world affairs."--The
Pulitzer Prize Committee
"The Pentagon's Brain puts Jacobsen in the company of important
writers ... such as Shane Harris and Rajiv Chandrasekran."--Chris
Bray, Bookforum
"A fascinating and sometimes uneasy exploration of the Defense
Advanced Research Projects Agency...."--Dina Temple-Raston, The
Washington Post
"A fascinating and unsettling portrait of the secretive U.S.
government agency....Jacobsen walks a fine line in telling the
story of the agency and its innovations without coming across as a
cheerleader or a critic, or letting the narrative devolve into a
salacious tell-all. Jacobsen's ability to objectively tell the
story of DARPA, not to mention its murky past, is truly remarkable,
making for a terrifically well-crafted treatise on the agency most
Americans know next to nothing about."
--Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"An exciting read that asks an important question: what is the risk
of allowing lethal technologies to be developed in secret?"--Ann
Finkbeiner, Nature
"Annie Jacobsen has a gift for unearthing secret, long-buried
information."--Mary Ann Gwinn, Seattle Times
"Annie Jacobsen's considerable talents as an investigative
journalist prove indispensable in uncovering the remarkable history
of one of America's most powerful and clandestine military research
agencies. And she is a great storyteller, making the tantalizing
tale of The Pentagon's Brain -- from the depths of the Cold War to
present day -- come alive on every page."--Gerald Posner, author of
God's Bankers
"Filled with the intrigue and high stakes of a spy novel,
Jacobsen's history of DARPA is as much a fascinating testament to
human ingenuity as it is a paean to endless industrial warfare and
the bureaucracy of the military-industrial complex."--Kirkus
Reviews
"In this fascinating and terrifying account, Annie Jacobsen regales
us with the stories behind the agency's 'consequential and
sometimes Orwellian' innovations, including autonomous weapons
systems--killer robots that could decide, without human
intervention, who lives and who dies."--Bryan Schatz, Mother
Jones
"Jacobsen offers a definitive history of the clandestine agency....
She explores the implications of DARPA work on technology that will
not be widely known to the public for generations but will
certainly impact national security and concepts of war."--Vanessa
Bush, Booklist (starred review)
"Jacobsen's account will serve as the model for histories of
military research and development and is likely to lead to more
works and articles about DARPA.... Engrossing,
conversation-starting read..."--Library Journal
Ask a Question About this Product More... |