Louis Kaufman

Excellent book. Had to read it slowly because it gives you a lot of information but it was worth it. Moe Berg was a professional baseball player in the early part of the 1900's. He was a catcher who studied the game and became one of the best catchers, ever. He could call a game from the stands for a catcher and pitcher he had only seen play, never played with.

Berg was also brilliant, some say a genius. He read everything. He had a law degree and was also a linguist who spoke and read multiple languages, including Spanish, French, German, Italian, Mandarin, and could read medieval French, Latin, and probably more I can't remember.

When the USA was approaching war in the 1940's Berg was called upon to help his country. Because of his size and his athletic build he turned into the perfect spy. As a modest man he never searched for the spotlight so he was excellent in blending into the crowd. Although little is proven, stories from those who knew him say he served in Germany, Italy, and possibly even Russia. He was often in Switzerland. His task? To try and determine if the Axis countries had managed to develop an atomic bomb. Moe, being Moe, succeeded. In the process the man who never was good at numbers and science learned a lot about atomic energy and made friends with some of the most famous people in and around the 2nd world war.

An amazing book about someone I had never heard of -- I don't remember who recommended the book, but I thank them, it is a wonderful story.… (mais)

5084. Moe Berg Athlete, Scholar, Spy, by Louis Kaufman - Barbara Fitzgerald - Tom Sewell (read 6 Nov 2013) This is a biography of a most extraordinary man. Moe Berg was born March 2, 1902, on East 121st St. in New York City, the son of Jewish immigrants from the Ukraine. He graduated magna cum laude from Princeton in 1923, played baseball till 1939, went to law school at Columbia in the 1920s, coached, worked for Nelson Rockefeller in Latin America, and did secret work during the war . He had an extraordinary facility for languages, and a great intellectual curiosity. When he was with an All-star American baseball team in Japan he took pictures which were later used in connection with Jimmy Doolittle's raid on Tokyo. He did cloak and dagger work in regard to Nazi efforts to do atomic research. He appeared on Information, Please and wowed all with his ability to answer abstruse questions. He was a most amazing person and no doubt the most intellectually accomplished major league baseball player ever. The book tells his story and cannot help but impress anyone who appreciates what he accomplished.… (mais)