I only listened to the audio.

Oh yea! I thought some of the story was far fetched, but loved hearing about the development of the two bases. Who is the head honcho up there? Who does he answer to?? Now I hear there are terrorists up there. Nazi's!! Bugged eyed kids!! Great stuff.

Everyone has heard of Area 51 but this story takes you on a different journey and not one you would expect. This isn't a book about aliens, it's about the who, what, when, and why Area 51 was developed and the unbelievable things that go on out there.

The book seems to be very well written and documented. I still take it with a grain of salt, however. The narrator/author did a very nice job of narrating, not monotone or boring. I will definitely read again.

This book is compelling and ranks among the top titles I have listened to: and I am, I feel, quite discriminating.

I cannot readily think of another book that has captured my attention in quite the same way: the topic and its coverage are unforgettable.

The author brings an objectivity, persistence, and clarity to one of the most mysterious issues of the past 60 years.

An enigma of military history and governmental intelligence finally elucidated.

If I would recommend one book (and I will) to my friends and colleagues, this is the one.

How the author was able to weave together a story out of the declassified documents and interviews with people who worked on those declassified projects.

The History of the Nuclear Program and the spy planes and how they were tied together with the end of World War II and the beginning of the Cold War.

Clear, precise, not unpleasant

Perhaps at the end when she reveals what she found our government was up to...

Book needed some more editing. She thinks a shotgun is a rifle in a few places.

In one place she says the US Govt. was worried that the North Vietnam army might use Surface to Air Missiles against US ground troops. Bull!. She got something that someone told here very confused. They are SURFACE to AIR missiles. SAMs don't have guidance for being ballistic missiles, and would not be good ones if they did.

The author uses "area 51" as a fulcrum to summarize many of America's clandestine operations during the past 80 years. I take everything like this with a grain of salt--just like I do statements from the U.S. Government about its own "secrets." Nevertheless, this provides thousands of documented "facts" that are woven into known U.S. history in a very intriguing way. This isn't a late-night a.m. radio rant on governments secrets, but a well-researched, well-documented presentation that is probably "on the money" a good deal of the time. But even if there are errors in attributing recently unclassified "secret" documents to exactly where they fit, it is not the author's fault primary, but that of the U.S. Government for keeping vast quantities of documents 'classified.' I considered this well-worth the listen. Regardless of whether you agree with everything, it will contribute to your knowledge base, making you better able to evaluate stories you "hear" about black ops. I give kudos to the author for reading it herself. What little she may lack in comparison to Audible's "best" professional narrators she surely makes up in passion and expert knowledge about the content. I prefer a good reading by an author to an academy award winning reading by an unaffiliated narrator.

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you don't

I can't tell you, maybe the beginning, middle, or end

your brain will be filled with so much history and factual evidence you will not be able to digest it all. And still, there is so much more than can be known about this area that cannot or will not be revealed to the public. I hope in my lifetime I'm able to hear more about the circumstances around this patch of land and the people that work there and the things they are working on. The author has apparently done a lot of research from people who were there. First hand accounting of events in the past that are mind blowing in many cases. I know of one character in the book that I read later in a NY Times review of the book is of somewhat close relation to the author. He is the one that sent her in the right direction.
Excellent Book!

Very revealing look at Area 51. No aliens!!!!

Nuclear testing

Secret Nuclear testing that almost destroyed us all

I enjoyed this book, it is full of a lot of very interesting information. Reading it while at work I kept finding my self looking up references and doing a little research to get more info on some of the subjects about the military. I was kind of hoping to get more info about aliens, which was a little disappointing, but if you are a military history buff, you will love this book. The last chapter was by far my favorite!!!

This is a fascinating history of our military flight technology. You don't have to be a conspiracy theorist to be intrigued with the story of how 'need to know' and 'black ops' came into being.