The Imagineers of War

The Untold Story of DARPA, the Pentagon Agency That Changed the World

De: Sharon Weinberger

Narrado por: Hillary Huber

The definitive history of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Pentagon agency that has quietly shaped war and technology for nearly sixty years.

Founded in 1958 in response to the launch of Sputnik, the agency’s original mission was to create “the unimagined weapons of the future.” Over the decades, DARPA has been responsible for countless inventions and technologies that extend well beyond military technology. Sharon Weinberger gives us a riveting account of DARPA’s successes and failures, its remarkable innovations, and its wild-eyed schemes. We see how the threat of nuclear Armageddon sparked investment in computer networking, leading to the Internet, as well as to a proposal to power a missile-destroying particle beam by draining the Great Lakes. We learn how DARPA was responsible during the Vietnam War for both Agent Orange and the development of the world’s first armed drones, and how after 9/11 the agency sparked a national controversy over surveillance with its data-mining research. And we see how DARPA’s success with self-driving cars was followed by disappointing contributions to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

Weinberger has interviewed more than one hundred former Pentagon officials and scientists involved in DARPA’s projects—many of whom have never spoken publicly about their work with the agency—and pored over countless declassified records from archives around the country, documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, and exclusive materials provided by sources. The Imagineers of War is a compelling and groundbreaking history in which science, technology, and politics collide.

Reseñas de la Crítica

“Excellent… A warning worth heeding… Weinberger…has cracked much of the secrecy that surrounds DARPA. [She] is especially deft in tracing how drones went from their early days in spotting and tracking Viet Cong fighters in the jungle to today, where they are part of the foundation of modern warfare.”
—Ray Locker, USA Today

“Groundbreaking.... Provides a glimpse into the history of war itself through the lens of an agency that bills itself as trying to ‘prevent and create surprise.’.... The best kind of airport thriller.”
—The New Scientist

"Deeply researched and briskly paced."
—Fred Kaplan, the New York Times Book Review

"[A] defining behind-the-scenes look at the confluence of defense politics and technological prowess. Exploring silly schemes as well as sensible ideas, distinguished military science and technology expert Weinberger profiles the crusaders who thought outside the box in service to their country and their own limitless creativity."
—Carol Haggas, Booklist

"Her account is critical but not mocking…a well-researched contribution to the history of U.S. military technology."
—Lawrence D. Freedman, Foreign Affairs

"They are the wizards of war, the faceless scientists who fight the battles of the future in lab coats instead of body armor, turning insects into remote control cyborgs and designing warships without crews. In her new book, Sharon Weinberger has placed one of the government’s most secret laboratories, DARPA, under an electron microscope and discovered a world far beyond anyone’s imagination."
—James Bamford, bestselling author of The Shadow Factory: The Ultra-Secret NSA, from 9/11 to the Eavesdropping on America.

"From the Internet of today to the robots of tomorrow, DARPA has shaped not just the technology of war, but our day to day lives. Sharon Weinberger's The Imagineers of War lays out its untold history in an easy and informative read, along the way, reshaping the way you will look at events that range from the Vietnam War to the War on Terror."
—P.W. Singer, author of Ghost Fleet and Wired for War

"[A] fascinating and absorbing history… Weinberger’s account, based on extensive and meticulous research, reveals surprising twists in the recent history of the age-old entanglement between knowledge and power."
—David Kaiser, Nature Research

"A deep organizational history rather than a technological chronicle. [Weinberger] scours reams of archival material and interviews former officials…revealing a highly secretive organization with a fittingly mixed legacy."
—Publishers Weekly

The reader was a little robotic

The book was good but the reader was a little robotic. I thought it was an AI reading the book a few times. If you can get passed the readers cadence the history is pretty intresting.

good information, but a bit to chew.

the content of the book is good and entertaining. personally I would have picked a different narrator and possibly director. at some point it feels like you're listening to a 10-minute run-on sentence.

Don’t stop at chapter 6 it gets better

Book does not really kick in till after the space race. The internet, counter insurgency and stealth planes are all great accomplishment.

I would of much preferred a different narrator.

I sparsely read this book in store and I’ve always wanted to pick it up. Recently got into audio books so I got it through here. I think it’s a really good book but the narrator made me regret getting it as an audio book because I couldn’t get past her monotone run off sentences. I couldn’t pay attention to the actual book.

Good book, really hard listen

The performance made this book really hard to get through. You may as well read the book because the robotic delivery in this audiobook forces you to have to sit and focus on just this. Otherwise, you'll find yourself having to keep rewinding because you haven't been paying attention for the last 3 minutes.

The book itself is a few really interesting stories about some of the politics and ventures of (D)ARPA and its origins. There's always deeper investigations that could have happened but you also can't always get very far when it comes to the government. I'd recommend the book but not the audiobook.

Blandly written story about DARPA politics

What disappointed you about The Imagineers of War?

I thought the book would be more about the imagineers themselves - their ideas and the way that they advanced technology. Sadly, the book is just about William Godel and the politics that he played to get his work done.

Has The Imagineers of War turned you off from other books in this genre?

I would hope not.

What three words best describe Hillary Huber’s performance?

Monotonous in many parts, dialogues had passion, There is only so much she could do

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Disappointment

Dull and duller

This book sounds like it was read by a computer and board me no end.

Woeful reading of a flat story

This sounded like it was read by a text to speech program. The story was uninteresting.

An interesting subject dumbed down and made dull

I’m really sorry I bought this listen. It’s just so tiresome. Instead of discussing science and technology, the author seems to focus on personalities and bureaucratic infighting. The narrator sounds tired or exasperated all the time.