Dreamland, The Secret History of Area 51 by Peter W. Merlin

[Dagger]

Thick book, but for a thick price:

Dreamland, The Secret History of Area 51, by Peter W. Merlin, Schiffer Publishing, available November 2023.

 

[Antonio]

The Dreamland book certainly is expensive, I just checked it on Amazons UK site. All I can say is Ouch

USD 75 compared to some naval recent titles prized above USD 100 or some pdf Russian language aviation books at 60€ sounds average. It must be known what is going to be offered, both edition and contents to decide wether it’s a good deal or not

 

[Dagger]

The price of the Dreamland book is in accordance with its size: 640 pages Letter/A4 size. The book has 720 images.

75 USD or 70 Euro is then 0.11 euro per A4 page, which is not expensive for an aviation book.
It's the large number of pages that results in a price that may be out of reach for some forum members.

 

[Whisperstream]

The Dreamland book certainly is expensive, I just checked it on Amazons UK site. All I can say is Ouch!.

Seriously? That's a pretty decent price for what you get. It is certainly comparable to other titles of similar size and with fewer illustrations. Crickmore's "Lockheed Blackbird: Beyond the Secret Missions" (472 pages, 350 illustrations) was $66USD in 2016. Pocock's "50 years of the U-2" (440 pages, 500 illustrations) was $70USD in 2005. I have seen a lot of books lately that cost way more. Just sayin'.

 

[RAP]

Curious how it compares to this one. Double the price ($149), 590 pages.

 

[Dagger]

That TD Barnes book only deals with the CIA period of Area 51.

On some forum there was a question about the new Dreamland book, with an answer from the author Peter Merlin:
Q: https://www.dreamlandresort.com/forum/messages/57162.html
A: https://www.dreamlandresort.com/forum/messages/57165.html

 

[Whisperstream]

Curious how it compares to this one. Double the price ($149), 590 pages.

The Barnes book was reportedly a compilation of material from his previous three-volume set, with maybe a bit of extra material. This new title is entirely original, and written from a very different perspective.

 

[elmayerle]

My wallet is already quaking; this is a "must buy" for me. I love the cover head-on shot of Tacit Blue. Flip it over and scale it down and you have a first approximation of TSSAM. Now, if we could get a section on TTR, that could definitely get interesting.

 

[Whisperstream]

My wallet is already quaking; this is a "must buy" for me. I love the cover head-on shot of Tacit Blue. Flip it over and scale it down and you have a first approximation of TSSAM. Now, if we could get a section on TTR, that could definitely get interesting.

Perhaps the TSSAM section of the book will be of interest. I would say this book will be orders of magnitude better than those previously published. Solid, well-researched history without editorializing or wacko conspiracy theories.

 

[quellish]

The Dreamland book certainly is expensive, I just checked it on Amazons UK site. All I can say is Ouch!.

You can see a list of the author's previous works here:

Books by Peter W. Merlin (Author of Nevada Test Site)

Peter W. Merlin has 26 books on Goodreads with 906 ratings. Peter W. Merlin’s most popular book is The Smell of Kerosene: A Test Pilot's Odyssey - NASA R...

www.goodreads.com

Notably, the books authored for NASA are available for free online as electronic books. I've read a few of them, most recently "Crash Course" which I found interesting and enjoyable.

The author has a book on TTR as well as another on Area 51. I have both, they are filled with photos. The Area 51 book has tons of photos from inside Area 51 over the years that I've never seen elsewhere.

Given the author's track record I am very excited for the new book, and I do think it will be worth the price (for me).

 

[quellish]

Curious how it compares to this one. Double the price ($149), 590 pages.

The Barnes book was reportedly a compilation of material from his previous three-volume set, with maybe a bit of extra material. This new title is entirely original, and written from a very different perspective.

I have the Barnes book, and I did find it enjoyable. It some details and anecdotes I had not seen before, like a few pages on A-12 bailout training parasailing on Lake Mead.

Some of the material was from Barnes' previous books. A lot of the material was from other sources, probably the majority of the book. I have not looked at it in a while but as I recall it covered from the U-2 up through the 1970s MiG exploitation programs, then a little bit of material on the stealth programs.

 

[Whisperstream]

Curious how it compares to this one. Double the price ($149), 590 pages.

The Barnes book was reportedly a compilation of material from his previous three-volume set, with maybe a bit of extra material. This new title is entirely original, and written from a very different perspective.

I have the Barnes book, and I did find it enjoyable. It some details and anecdotes I had not seen before, like a few pages on A-12 bailout training parasailing on Lake Mead.

Some of the material was from Barnes' previous books. A lot of the material was from other sources, probably the majority of the book. I have not looked at it in a while but as I recall it covered from the U-2 up through the 1970s MiG exploitation programs, then a little bit of material on the stealth programs.

Barnes originally released his work as a three-volume set, probably because his publisher couldn't accommodate all of the material under one cover. A lot of the text was derived from declassified CIA documents and Air Force documents, as well as a number of personal anecdotes and material from the Roadrunners web page. It was factually accurate and entirely free of the usual nonsense we have come to expect in most Area 51 books. The most notable weakness was a lack of copy editing. The subject matter often lacked context and/or narrative transition between passages. Having not read his most recent iteration, I don't know if his new publisher addressed that issue.

 

[Dew]

The Dreamland book certainly is expensive, I just checked it on Amazons UK site. All I can say is Ouch!.

Seriously? That's a pretty decent price for what you get. It is certainly comparable to other titles of similar size and with fewer illustrations. Crickmore's "Lockheed Blackbird: Beyond the Secret Missions" (472 pages, 350 illustrations) was $66USD in 2016. Pocock's "50 years of the U-2" (440 pages, 500 illustrations) was $70USD in 2005. I have seen a lot of books lately that cost way more. Just sayin'.

Yup. I won't be pre-ordering just yet, but sooner to release date

 

[XP67_Moonbat]

My wallet is already quaking; this is a "must buy" for me. I love the cover head-on shot of Tacit Blue. Flip it over and scale it down and you have a first approximation of TSSAM. Now, if we could get a section on TTR, that could definitely get interesting.

Perhaps the TSSAM section of the book will be of interest. I would say this book will be orders of magnitude better than those previously published. Solid, well-researched history without editorializing or wacko conspiracy theories.

Well anything is going to be better than the hot garbage Jacobson put out a few years ago. Soviet child test pilots as aliens? Bollocks!

 

[greenmartian2017]

Guys,

Just today I got my copy of Peter Merlin's highly anticipated book about Area 51 and the activities there.

It's a humdinger of a book, 555 pages in length. It also has a humdinger sunk-cost-when-you-buy-a-copy: Seventy-five dollars, plus shipping (for US people, about $7 bucks, mine was shipped within a sturdy cardboard box plus some paper filler that kept it from moving around inside the box). It includes a really nice bookmark too.

No external paper cover, though.

Many, many, many photos, both black-and-white and in color. And film stills too. Many photos I have not seen before, along with others that I have. The pictures and maps are clear, and the captions readable. The overall text has used a font size large enough to help aid in eye relief, too.

Peter M. I think went all out to put this together. Now it seems he made a best-faith effort to be comprehensive (but not always relating all details--for example, one of the D-21s that had its photo pallet lost was attempted to be retrieved by the USS McMorris, but is not so stated in Merlin's text), but it is not complete. (Merlin so states/volunteers the same sentiment in his postscript.) But I am amazed as to what he has accumulated, etc. Just about every topic you can think of is included and at least discussed to some extent.

It is not written like World Book Encyclopedia or Encyclopedia Britannica, thank God. No starched text.

This book is the one-source volume a person should likely have on their personal book shelf.

Now some of the things I have been told about that were tested at Area 51 do not show up in the book, so that means that there remains a substantial chunk of what took place at Area 51 (or in the near environs of Area 51 or in adjoining states to Nevada) that has not yet seen print. But hopefully in the near future.

But lest anyone think I am critical of Peter M.'s book for its details, no--bicarbonate of soda, no--it has plenty of details. Now keep in mind the earlier historical parts have much more information as many of the projects have been declassified, and continue to have things about them become declassified than later stuff. Merlin has also talked to numerous people who were actually there and worked at Area 51, which is quite helpful. Looking at the picture credits tell you that he had a lot of cooperation from the CIA and others to get a lot of the photos. The photos (and their quality) help make this book several cuts above any previous book on the subject.

A book is known by the kind of index it features (if it has one) and its end notes (ditto). Peter M.'s book has a 16 page index. It also has 47 pages worth of end notes. Merlin's author bio appears on the rear paste-down end paper. And the photos on the front and end papers are not the same. The front one I think shows an enlargement of a section of Area 51 and the back one is a dramatic front-forward shot of an F-117 at night sitting on the tarmac at Area 51 with the mountains in the background.

I looked for SILVER JAVELIN in the index, but I didn't locate that. But Robert Lazar (yes, "the Bob") and Glenn Campbell do make an appearance in the book. These people are part of the popular culture history of Area 51. He also discusses the Janet flights and their call signs.

I have only performed some preliminary "jumping around in the book" type of reading, but I will sit down and read the entire animal. Chapter 9, "Unusual Flying Objects," will get a special scrutiny from me for obvious reasons.

Here's the Table of Contents:

Preface: Let Perpetual Light Shine in the Darkness
Introduction: Desert Dreamland
Chapter 1 The Angel From Paradise Ranch
Chapter 2 Special Projects
Chapter 3 Roadrunners and Blackbirds
Chapter 4 Dreamland
Chapter 5 We Have Met the Enemy [Exploitation of Foreign Aircraft from Adversary Nations]
Chapter 6 Invisible Airplanes
Chapter 7 Flying Scorpions and Desert Whales
Chapter 8 Mountains of Controversy [in part about the nearby mountain ranges where people once could observe and take photos/videos of exotic vehicles taking off from Groom Lake, etc.]
Chapter 9 Unusual Flying Objects
Chapter 10 National Asset

Postscript: And All That is Hidden Shall Be Revealed

Appendixes

Appendix 1 Selected Documents
Appendix 2 Installation Commanders 1955-2022
Appendix 3 Test Site Names
Appendix 4 Test Wing Organization
Appendix 5 Aircraft Accidents
Appendix 6 Miscellany

Abbreviations and Acronyms/Initialisms
Endnotes
Bibliography
Index

In closing my first evaluation of the book, my greatest concern is the binding of the this volume. It is allegedly a hard back, but I don't know if the signatures are [smythe] sewn in, or just glued in. A lot of publishers opt for the latter of just glueing things in (making the book's back crack really quickly, like a paperback) because it is cheaper to do so. So I am concerned with a book this thick (roughly 2 and 1/4 inches thick) the binding might not hold up to repeated opening and closings (which will have to happen to read all of it).

So my gut reaction is this: I'm glad I bought a copy. It will take some time to read all of it.

I hope that this first stab at a review is helpful to all of you.

 

[SOC]

I agree, this book is outstanding. Superbly illustrated, plenty of things I hadn't heard before. I find his assertion that the photo on the bottom left of page 310 represents a Lockheed BSAX design, rather than an iteration of SENIOR PEG as some have suggested, to be interesting.

Time to renew speculation as to what YF-24, YF-220, and X-273 represent!

 

[publiusr]

In my mind’s eye…I always pictured it as just Jessie James’ Monster Garage for jet jocks and drone drivers. The aircraft were more interesting when the facility was more rustic.

Now it’s flipped.

Let me guess…the canteen has cashless snack purchases before the mechanic goes back to work on the propeller drone

 

[Whisperstream]

Obviously, It would be impossible to write a complete history of Area 51 since so many programs have yet to be declassified. We only have tantalizing hints about the existence of some of them (as mentioned: YF-24, YF-220, and X-273, and don't forget the YF-45D). There are undoubtedly many more. For the moment (and probably for decades to come), this book will be the best available resource for this subject matter.

Every chapter offers something new, even on the programs everybody feels familiar with (U-2, OCXART, F-117A). There are new stories and perspectives on those programs, and more-factually-accurate details. Some of the old anecdotes we had taken as gospel all these years turned out to have been warped or embellished. This new narrative corrects that, wherever possible. Some of the less-familiar projects have been fleshed out. This book contains the most detailed history yet of SENIOR PROM, thanks to the declassified Ben Rich papers at the Huntington Library (all of which had to be reviewed by AFOSI Special Projects before being made available to the public in 2005). The book also includes a surprisingly detailed history of the electric-powered HALSOL unmanned aerial vehicle (that the Air Force apparently called HAVE RASH). When Curtis Peebles described HALSOL in "Dark Eagles (Presidio Press, 1995), he only wrote six paragraphs (less than a page and a half) and scarcely described the flight-test program at all. He even wrote that HALSOL only made nine flights and claimed the aircraft reached an altitude of 8,000 feet. According to "Dreamland: The Secret History of Area 51," it made a total of 19 flights and only reached 2,500 feet. These details, and many more, are described over seven, richly illustrated pages that tell the story of the people who made it happen.

One of the strengths of this book is the focus on people, and not just cool tech and hardware. Don't get me wrong, I love that stuff, too.

The book is ridiculously heavy and has to be handled with some care. I am frankly glad there is no dust jacket, as it would probably be prone to damage.

One correction to the OP. The picture inside the back cover (a dramatic nighttime, nose-on view of an F-117A in a hangar was taken at Tonopah Test Range (TTR), not Area 51. I can see why the publisher chose to use it. The image is very striking. Considering how much of the book is concerned with TTR and its connection to Groom Lake (it's now under the operational control of Det 3, AFTC), this seems like an appropriate image to use.

 

[sferrin]

Just got mine today. Can't wait to get some time to go through it. Definitely one of the heavier books I own.

 

[sferrin]

My wallet is already quaking; this is a "must buy" for me. I love the cover head-on shot of Tacit Blue. Flip it over and scale it down and you have a first approximation of TSSAM. Now, if we could get a section on TTR, that could definitely get interesting.

That you they quoted in the section on TSSAM?

 

[sublight_]

Just got mine today. Can't wait to get some time to go through it. Definitely one of the heavier books I own.

Haha, me too. It's like the official Bible of SPF.

 

[Black Dog]

Got my copy and have really been enjoying it so far.

Rather interesting comment on pg 263 regarding certain hangars, makes you think an entire history of the facility would probably be 2-3 or more times larger than the book is already

 

[FighterJock]

Especially when you consider the fact that there is a big white hanger that is plainly visible on Google Earth.

 

[bob225]

Sadly out of my budget currently, i've asked my local library if they will buy it, not optimistic as the librarian gave me a funny look when i enquired.

more worried about carrying it home if they do get it in looking at the size of it!

 

[elmayerle]

Picked mine up for 30% off on Amazon's "Black Friday" sale. Since I'm also a Prime member, I didn't have to pay shipping. I've only flipped through it and I find I'm learning new things even about programs I worked on (I'm even quoted a couple times regarding the BGM-137B "Army TSSAM - and they are accurate quotes). I had not known that the Air Force variants of TSSAM were tested there nor that the Army variant was fired into there from TTR.

 

[elmayerle]

That you they quoted in the section on TSSAM?

Yep, it definitely is. Rather surprised to see myself quoted there, but what I said was accurate and I don't believe broke any security agreements I signed. Now, if I'd gone into the definitive differrences between the AGM-137A and BGM-137B, that would get me in trouble. A side note on TSSAM, a stretched version of the AGM-137A was being studied, before the program was cancelled, as an entry in the RAF's standoff cruise missile competition.

 

[quellish]

Dwayne Day has written a review:

The Space Review: Review: Dreamland

 

[fightingirish]

Aviation Week Check 6 Podcast: Lifting The Veil On Area 51's Secret Flight-Test History
Link:

Podcast: Lifting The Veil On Area 51's Secret Flight-Test History | Aviation Week Network

A new book takes the wraps off the secret flight-test history of the facility in the Nevada Test and Training Range like no one ever has before. Listen in to hear from author Peter Merlin.

aviationweek.com