ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book focuses on the British programme, which adds a valuable and hitherto neglected perspective to the discourse on exploitation. It considers a rather different perspective and argues that the exploitation of German science and technology was an essentially unique case, albeit one which had both precedents and legacies. The book shows that the British fear, suspicion and dislike of the Soviet Union became the dominant factor in dictating exploitation policy and ensured the survival and even the expansion of the programme on numerous occasions, despite it often running counter to other British objectives in occupied Germany. It also shows that exploitation was central to the transitional period which Britain underwent, as it moved from fighting the Germans to fighting the Soviets, developed new military and diplomatic strategies on account of the advent of new technologies.
