The Meinertzhagen Mystery: The Life and Legend of a Colossal Fraud

The Meinertzhagen Mystery: The Life and Legend of a Colossal FraudThe Meinertzhagen Mystery: The Life and Legend of a Colossal Fraud by Brian Garfield
ISBN: 1597970417
Published by Potomac Books on January 1st 2007
Genres: Biography & Autobiography, Historical, Military, Science & Technology, History, Middle East, General, Nature, Birdwatching Guides
Pages: 386

Len's Summary: Lt. Colonel Richard Meinertzhagen (1878-1967) got his start as a politically- and socially-connected British Army intelligence officer chasing Paul von Lettow Vorbeck around the East Africa bush. Later, invalided out of Africa, he was assigned to MI7 in Cairo, and claimed authorship of the legendary “haversack ruse” of 1917. A committed Zionist, Meinertzhagen was a flamboyant player in the Middle East in the inter-war years, a noted ornithologist, founder of the post-war Anglo German Fellowship, and intimate of Winston Churchill, T. H. Lawrence and Chaim Weizmann. He also perpetrated scientific fraud, was a tireless self-promoter and may have even murdered his wife. Fittingly, this lively tale is authored by a past president of the Mystery Writers of America.

The Alchemy of Air: A Jewish Genius, a Doomed Tycoon, and the Scientific Discovery That Fed the World but Fueled the Rise of Hitler

The Alchemy of Air: A Jewish Genius, a Doomed Tycoon, and the Scientific Discovery That Fed the World but Fueled the Rise of HitlerThe Alchemy of Air: A Jewish Genius, a Doomed Tycoon, and the Scientific Discovery That Fed the World but Fueled the Rise of Hitler by Thomas Hager
ISBN: 9780307351791
Published by Three Rivers Press on August 18th 2009
Genres: Biography & Autobiography, Historical, Science & Technology, Science, General
Pages: 316

Len's Summary: The story of German chemists Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch who developed a process for synthesizing and mass producing ammonia from hydrogen and atmospheric nitrogen. The invention was used to replace natural nitrates as the base for fertilizer and explosives, fueling Germany’s 1914-1918 war effort. Haber also helped develop Germany’s poison gas capabilities. The author is a science and health writer.