Zimmerman traces the early development of the mission from Britain's initial attempts at technical cooperation in World War I and unsuccessful efforts to restart it in the late 1930s. He highlights Winston Churchill's prominent, yet remarkably inconsistent, role in the story and the often tumultuous diplomatic relations with the Roosevelt administration. Among the secrets Britain revealed was the cavity magnetron, which made microwave radar possible. The Tizard Mission established an effective system of teamwork for Allied technical and scientific cooperation, and it was this teamwork that proved to be a crucial factor in Allied technical superiority. It was also the beginning of the much longer story of Anglo-American scientific and technical cooperation. The Tizard Mission served as a model for the international technical cooperation that continues today in organizations such as NATO.

David Zimmerman is a professor of military history at the University of Victoria.

David Zimmerman's profile page

"Zimmerman makes a sound and convincing claim for the significance of the Tizard Mission as a landmark in the evolution of Allied scientific and technological cooperation during World War II. He gives us the fullest and best picture yet of the details of the mission. The subject is important and the author's contribution to scholarship is original and exciting." Wesley K. Wark, Department of History, University of Toronto.