Annie Jacobsen Books in Order

After witnessing behavior she considered suspicious on a commercial flight, Annie Jacobsen investigates aviation security and government responses. She recounts the incident and her subsequent inquiries, arguing that vulnerabilities remain despite the measures introduced after September 11.

Drawing on interviews with military personnel, scientists and others connected to Area 51, Jacobsen investigates the secret Nevada installation. Its concealed programs and Cold War history reveal how military secrecy encouraged the myths surrounding the base.

Jacobsen investigates the secret American program that recruited Nazi scientists after World War II. Following their lives through government records and interviews, she examines the scientific gains and moral compromises made in the name of Cold War security.

Jacobsen traces DARPA from its Cold War beginnings through decades of secret military research. Interviews and declassified records explore how its scientists, weapons programs and technological ambitions have shaped warfare and raised difficult questions about national security.

Through declassified documents and interviews, Jacobsen investigates American intelligence and military programs studying psychic abilities. Scientists, officials and participants describe experiments in remote viewing and other phenomena, revealing the lengths agencies pursued in their search for strategic advantage.

Jacobsen examines the CIA’s covert paramilitary operations through interviews with participants and declassified records. Accounts of sabotage, subversion and assassination reveal the people carrying out presidential directives and the moral and political tensions surrounding their missions.

Following American soldiers deployed to Afghanistan, Jacobsen connects their experiences to the Pentagon’s expanding biometric surveillance programs. Her investigation examines the collection of personal identifiers and the consequences of using data-driven systems to distinguish threats from civilians.

Jacobsen follows a hypothetical nuclear attack and the rapid decisions it triggers, drawing on interviews with military and civilian experts. The scenario examines warning systems, retaliation plans and the possibility of global catastrophe unfolding within hours.

Drawing on interviews with medical, military and government experts, Jacobsen constructs a scenario of biological catastrophe. A laboratory accident or deliberate attack leads to spreading infection, testing whether institutions and infrastructure can prevent the collapse of society.