{"product_id":"v2-a-combat-history-of-the-first-ballistic-missile","title":"V-2: A Combat History of the First Ballistic Missile","description":"\u003cp\u003eA History of One of World War IIs Most Advanced and Terrifying Technologies In August 1944  Londoners thought the war might be over by Christmas. But on September 8  1944  in the London suburb of Chiswick  a thunderous double-boom was heard followed by a huge plume of black smoke rising high into the air. Several minutes later another explosion rocked the earth near Epping. There had been no warnings  no drone of aircraft above  just sudden devastation. \"Operation Penguin \" the V-2 offensive  had begun. The A-4 rocket  better known as the V-2  Vergeltungswaffen Zwei  or \"Vengeance Weapon 2 \" was the first ballistic missile to be used in combat. Soaring over 50 miles high at supersonic speeds  the V-2 would strike its target within 5 minutes of launching. Once in the air its deadly warhead was unstoppable. The ancestor of all Cold War and modern day ballistic missiles  as well as the rockets used for space exploration  the V-2 could not win the war for Germanyit was too expensive  too complicated  too inaccurate  and its warhead was too smallbut its unprecedented invulnerability and influence on Allied planning made the V-2 and the advancements it represented the ultimate war prize  and British  American  and Soviet forces scrambled to seize German rocket technology along with its scientists and engineers. In V-2: A Combat History of the First Ballistic Missile  T. D. Dungan relies on an unparalleled collection of original documents  unpublished photographs  and accounts from those who were there to provide a complete description of the V-2 program  the missiles use in combat  and the race to capture its secrets.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44952364253237,"sku":"ByrdShop_1594160120","price":39.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9781594160127.jpg?v=1770160904","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/v2-a-combat-history-of-the-first-ballistic-missile","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}