Area 51: An Uncensored History of America’s Top Secret Military Base by Annie Jacobsen

This book is fascinating when taken at face value and students of Cold War history will benefit from some of Jacobsen’s commentary on historical geopolitical events, like the intelligence angle on the Cuban Missile Crisis. The key concept the author appears to put forward is that, while significant technological and scientific advances were made at Area 51, the environmental and ethical costs were enormous. The reader will be left questioning whether they were worth it which makes Jacobsen a thought provoking writer.

This work has some limitations, however. By the author’s own admission, “everything that happens at Area 51, when it is happening, is classified as top secret…”. This is an admission that the book cannot be authoritative. Readers will of course be aware that anything described as “top secret” on a paperback is not so. Also, the description of the book as an “uncensored history” is conflicted by governmental restrictions on source material. The author has tried to counteract this with interview research, which although extensive, would be helped by categorising interviews by employer to give a clearer picture. Overall, this is an ambitious and intriguing book but has some presentational limitations.