The Secret History of RDX

The Secret History of RDX
Author :
Publisher : University Press of Kentucky
Total Pages : 176
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780813175317
ISBN-13 : 0813175313
Rating : 4/5 (17 Downloads)

Book Synopsis The Secret History of RDX by : Colin F. Baxter

Download or read book The Secret History of RDX written by Colin F. Baxter and published by University Press of Kentucky. This book was released on 2018-05-18 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The noted historian offers “a compelling sociohistorical account of an often overlooked yet critical” WWII explosive twice as powerful as TNT (Choice). During the early years of World War II, American ships crossing the Atlantic were virtually defenseless against German U-boats. Bombs and torpedoes fitted with TNT barely dented the hulls of Axis naval vessels. Then, seemingly overnight, a top-secret manufacturing plant appeared near Kingsport, Tennessee, producing a sugar-white substance called Research Department Explosive, code name RDX. Twice as deadly as TNT and overshadowed only by the atomic bomb, RDX proved to be pivotal in the Battle of the Atlantic and directly contributed to the Allied victory in WWII. In The Secret History of RDX, Colin F. Baxter documents the journey of the super-explosive from conceptualization at Woolwich Arsenal in England to mass production at Holston Ordnance Works in east Tennessee. Baxter examines the debates between RDX advocates and their opponents and explores the use of the explosive in the bomber war over Germany, in the naval war in the Atlantic, and as a key element in the trigger device of the atomic bomb. Drawing on archival records and interviews with individuals who worked at the Kingsport “powder plant,” Baxter illuminates both the explosive’s military significance and its impact on the lives of ordinary Americans involved in the war industry. Much more than a technical account, this study assesses the social and economic impact of the military-industrial complex on small communities on the home front.


The Secret History of RDX Related Books

The Secret History of RDX
Language: en
Pages: 215
Authors: Colin F. Baxter
Categories: History
Type: BOOK - Published: 2018-05-18 - Publisher: University Press of Kentucky

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

During the early years of World War II, American ships crossing the Atlantic with oil and supplies were virtually defenseless against German U-boats. Bombs and
The Secret History of RDX
Language: en
Pages: 176
Authors: Colin F. Baxter
Categories: History
Type: BOOK - Published: 2018-05-18 - Publisher: University Press of Kentucky

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The noted historian offers “a compelling sociohistorical account of an often overlooked yet critical” WWII explosive twice as powerful as TNT (Choice). Duri
Nature at War
Language: en
Pages: 399
Authors: Thomas Robertson
Categories: Business & Economics
Type: BOOK - Published: 2020-04-02 - Publisher: Cambridge University Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

"World War II was the largest and most destructive conflict in human history. It was an existential struggle that pitted irreconcilable political systems and id
Sideshow
Language: en
Pages: 542
Authors: William Shawcross
Categories: History
Type: BOOK - Published: 2023-12-21 - Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Although there are many books and films dealing with the Vietnam War, Sideshow tells the truth about America's secret and illegal war with Cambodia from 1969 to
Stalin's Man in Canada
Language: en
Pages: 281
Authors: David Levy
Categories: History
Type: BOOK - Published: 2011-12-13 - Publisher: Enigma Books

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

First book about key Soviet spy and Canadian communist. Fred Rose was deeply involved in atomic espionage.