Book Review: Area 51 An Uncensored History Of America's Top Secret Military Base By Annie Jacobsen

I recently received a copy of the new book Area 51 An Uncensored History Of America's Top Secret Military Base by Annie Jacobsen to review.


Regardless of what most people believe when it comes to other life forms in our universe, you can't deny the fascination our country has with Area 51. It's a train wreck that you just can't stop oogling. Maybe there were little green men in a spaceship, maybe the government's just messing with our heads to keep us away from other things - who knows? It certainly makes for a host of conspiracy theories that just about everyone has an opinion on.

Area 51 An Uncensored History Of America's Top Secret Military Base is the latest in that line of conspiracy theories, and definitely one of the more unique ones at that. I hate to give away key components of the book, but in this one it's kind of hard not to - Ms. Jacobsen says that what we found in Roswell was actually sent to us by the Russians as part of the cold war. It was done to scare us, and the "aliens" inside were actually folks that had medical experiments done on them that ended up disfiguring them.

...could it be possible? Yes, I'll give her that. We all know that many governments do secret tests on willing - and very unwilling subjects. There are lots of government projects done from a technological standpoint too - we have planes and other vehicles being created that we really don't know much about, and of course, that's a very good thing sometimes - do you want your enemy to know step by step plans to create their own matching weapons? I sure don't!

The book weaves more and more "information" about Area 51, thanks to interviews with folks who were there, along with tons of other folks, including military personnel. Fascinating? Yes. The truth? Who knows?! That's the beauty of conspiracy theories, the "who-dun-it" of parlor games. We'll probably never know the truth about Area 51, at least not in our lifetime. You know what? I'm fine with that. It makes for some seriously fun conversations at parties, and some great movies to view - and books to read.

Area 51 is nicely written, with plenty of notes to back up what the author has found in her research. It's rare you'll see a book hit the bestseller list with over 100 pages of notes, bibliography, and all that information that makes a research junkie's heart beat in giddy joy. ;) Is all the research correct? Maybe, maybe not. You can always follow parts of the research trail to decide for yourself. If you love conspiracy theories, Area 51 should be on the top of your reading list this Summer. If you're looking for a book to prove that it really was a UFO from outer space that arrived in Roswell, then you'll probably want to skip this one - unless you're a glutton for punishment convinced this book was put out by the government to sway you away from that theory. ;) (After all, why else would a book like this, full of "top secret" information, be allowed by the government to be published? *wink wink, nudge nudge*)

Area 51 An Uncensored History Of America's Top Secret Military Base by Annie Jacobsen is a hardcover non-fiction book published by Little, Brown, and Company. It is 521 pages long (including notes, etc). The suggested cover price is $27.99, but Amazon has it available for $16.79 as of this posting. It is also available as an e-book for the Kindle and other e-readers.

I received a copy of this book in order to read it and share my thoughts on it. All opinions are my own, and definitely not that of the author(s) or publisher.