Keeping the Peace

The Aldermaston Story

In 1940 two scientists, refugees from Nazi Germany, wrote a memorandum which has to prove one of the most significant documents of the twentieth century. In it, they outlined proposes for the manufacture of a uranium fuelled 'super bomb'. The paper pprepelled Britain into the forefront of research into nuclear weapons and lead, through the collaboration of British and American scientists in the manhattan Project, to the decisive ending of the Second World War. One of the British scientists, William Penney, was chosen to lead the UK's nuclear weapons program after the war and went on to be the first Director of Atomic Weapons Reaser Establishment at Aldermaston. Since then, the name 'Aldermaston' has become synonymous with Britain's nuclear deterrent. This book tells the fascinating story of Aldermaston and the other sites which for half a century have made a unique contribution to the defence of the realm. It's publication is particularly welcome in the year in which AWE Aldermaston marks its fiftieth anniversary