12 Seconds of Silence

April 13, 2020
Journalist Holmes debuts with a rousing and carefully researched history of American-led efforts to develop technology capable of defeating German air superiority during WWII. Noting that British antiaircraft guns needed more than 20,000 shots to bring down a single plane during the Blitz, Holmes documents the origins of Section T, a “ragtag” team of engineers and scientists led by Johns Hopkins University physicist Merle Tuve, and their efforts to develop the proximity fuse, a device that alerted an artillery shell when to explode. Holmes focuses on the summer of 1944, when Germany launched scores of V-1 drone missiles at London from the coast of occupied France, killing thousands, and Section T raced to get the proximity fuse to frontline antiaircraft guns. By the middle of August, Holmes writes, Allied forces were shooting nearly half of the V-1 rockets out of the sky, and by the end of summer, the rate neared 100%. Holmes maintains a brisk pace, highlighting the human drama behind the story and only occasionally getting mired in complex technical details. This entertaining chronicle rescues a tale of American wartime ingenuity from obscurity.

April 15, 2020
The story of the first "smart" weapon. On the first page of his debut book, Washington, D.C.-based journalist Holmes introduces his protagonist, Merle Tuve, who would become the leader of "Section T," a scientific research-and-development group tasked with designing a new type of fuse for anti-aircraft shells. In the early days of World War II, naval gunners were practically defenseless against fighter planes and bombers. The author describes the antiquated, inefficient process of loading and aiming shells meant to bring down enemy planes before they could sink battleships and destroyers. "No wonder it took thousands of rounds to knock one 'bird' out of the sky," he writes. "No wonder every ack-ack gunner dreamed of a shell that could automatically explore near a target." Officials realized that the war would be won by air power and, thus, also by air defense. Tuve was responsible for developing a new kind of fuse for these shells, one that did not require nearly impossible feats of technical calculations performed in seconds against planes moving hundreds of miles per hour. The proximity fuse he created was a work of true genius, but like any great invention, it required immense amounts of perseverance and human ingenuity. Using radio waves to detect proximity, the fuse was able to make shells that were far more accurate than anything before. Holmes also focuses on the creation of the V-1 flying bomb, the Nazi "superweapon." His harrowing description of London under incessant bombardment in the months after D-Day makes the success of the fuse all the more amazing. The author's chronicle of the Battle of the Bulge and the decisive role of proximity fuses in that final confrontation is equally fascinating. Holmes is a meticulous historian, and while his story begins a bit sluggishly with the painstaking scientific and political efforts necessary to deploy the proximity fuse, he ends up showing how this technological marvel played an invaluable role in winning the war. A slow burn with an exciting finale. (16-page photo insert)

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May 15, 2020
WWII unleashed unparalleled destruction on much of Europe over six years. In London, citizens sheltered themselves against an aerial bombardment of Nazi firepower that began in 1940 and progressed in intensity. Innovation from Nazi scientists such as Werner Von Braun brought about deadlier weapons and weapons carriers like the V-1 rocket, one of the primary weapons used in the German assault on Allied forces, particularly in England. A group called Section T was formed in the U.S. to combat the Nazi threat. Merle Tuve, chairman of Section T, was obsessed by gadgetry from an early age and had a habit of getting into things." His scientific know-how led to his work for the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory before he would oversee his intrepid team develop a fuse capable of stanching the damage from the Nazi V-1s. Journalist Holmes' latest book is a fascinating account of the evolving specter of war, replete with biographies of important figures who may not have been world leaders, but whose work altered it forever.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)

June 1, 2020

Journalist Holmes regales readers intrigued by espionage in this story of how scientists and mechanics developed the proximity fuse to destroy Axis-launched attacks. Although British scientists initiated the research, Holmes maintains that American scientists, ensconced in a secret unit based in Maryland, were the primary heroes. Extant timed or contact fuses required a direct hit to be effective. Instead, a perfected fuse for weapons counteracted the V-1 (vengeance weapon) rockets, or "buzz bombs" (recognized by their wailing sound, followed by several eerie seconds before detonating) when the antiballistics approached their vicinity. The author contends that the use of the proximity fuse at the Battle of the Bulge, among other battles, together with decoding the Enigma cypher machine and the atomic bomb were the West's technological contributions that helped to win World War II. Holmes honors the contributions of scientists such as Vannevar Bush and the efforts of double agent Jeannie Rousseau as well as Stateside project assembly workers. VERDICT Holmes synthesizes technical reports and archival materials to produce this first book-length, accessible narrative on an essential factor of Allied victory in World War II. Readers of similar works on Navajo Code Talkers will also enjoy this story of wartime espionage.--Frederick J. Augustyn Jr., Lib. of Congress, Washington, DC

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