The Great Escape: Nine Jews Who Fled Hitler and Changed the World, by Kati Marton, is a study of how by the nature of their exclusionary policies, Hungary and Germany lost the chance to utilize the talents of nine Hungarian - Jews (most were secular), who were photographic artists, writers and scientists.
The text focuses on the following:
Robert Capa & Andre Kertesz - photographers
Arthur Koestler - writer of Darkness at Noon
These 4 scientists all worked on the nuclear bomb at Los Almos:
Edward Teller - physicist and theorist of the "star wars" defense theory
John von Neumann - mathematician and "grandfather" of the computer
Leo Szilard - physicist and founder of Federation of Atomic Scientists
Eugene Wigner- winner of the Nobel prize for physics
Alexandar Korda - Film Director, Producer of The Third Man
Michael Curtiz - Film Director - most known for Casablanca
Marton gives the reader an excellent background of Hungarian society when these nine were growing up. She has us follow their stories, as they must leave their homeland for other European cities and evenually leave Europe for the United States. It is amazing who these men knew and what they accomplished. And she manages to explain and clarify some of the scientific technology for the average reader.
This is a great book and a good glimpse into these men and their times. The author is Hungarian herself which adds a special knowledge to the story of their lives. A surprisingly quick, well written read.
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