The Winter Fortress: The Epic Mission to Sabotage Hitler’s Atomic Bomb

Bascomb (The Nazi Hunters), a WWII historian and former journalist, thrillingly recounts the commando effort to destroy the Norwegian Vemork hydroelectric plant that was the source of heavy water, a necessary requirement for the Nazi Germany’s atomic bomb program. The book chronicles four major attacks: an unsuccessful British commando raid, a successful Norwegian commando raid, a U.S. Air Force bombing attack, and the final efforts to demolish the remaining heavy water supplies. Bascomb’s novelistic depiction focuses on the efforts of the Norwegian commandos and resistance fighters, who braved the threat of Gestapo torture and execution while showcasing the skiing and wilderness skills that helped them survive and operate in the arctic conditions of Norwegian winter. He contextualizes events by explaining the importance of heavy water to nuclear fission and reminding readers that the extent of the Nazi nuclear program was unknown at the time. Bascomb’s meticulous research draws on U.S., British, German, and Norwegian archives, as well as interviews with surviving veterans. Much of the information Bascomb shares has been detailed elsewhere, but this is still a fascinating read about how a small group of Norwegians refused to submit to the brutal occupation of their country and contributed significantly to Allied victory. [em](May) [/em]