Customer Reviews

Atom Bombs: The Top Secret Inside Story of Little Boy and Fat Man

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"Atom Bombs: The Top Secret Inside Story of Little Boy and Fat Man" fills an important niche in the literature about the development of nuclear weapons. There is no shortage of books on the Manhattan Project, including such classics as "Now It Can Be Told," "Brighter Than A Thousand Suns" and "The Making of the Atomic Bomb." Biographies of scientists who worked on the project, including Robert Oppenheimer and Edward Teller, also abound. One would think that there would not be much fresh material to write about a project that, after all, took place more than 60 years ago. But new books on the subject continue to crop up. One of the latest, "Shockwave: Countdown to Hiroshima," released in 2005, details the last couple of weeks before the atomic bombings of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that ended World War II. In reading "Shockwave," I found that virtually all of the passages that referred to the technical details of the "Little Boy" and "Fat Man" bombs footnoted John Coster-Mullens' "Atom Bombs." So I had to buy it. It was an excellent decision.

According to a review in "The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists," Coster-Mullen has not yet found a publisher willing to print his book, which is unfortunate--it deserves to be issued in bound hardcover form. Hopefully someday it will be. Now, what you get is a spiral-bound 8-1/2x11-inch, 402-page book with nice thick card-stock covers. Although it is printed on a laser printer, the printing quality is very good, and the photos and drawings are clear, sharp and crisp. My order, shipped directly from the author in Wisconsin, showed up very quickly and in perfect condition in a large padded envelope.

Enough about the appearance--what about the content? Quite simply, there is NO better source of information on the technical details of the world's first two nuclear weapons. In the first 88 pages, after touching on the history of the Manhattan Project and the "Silverplate" Boeing B-29 "Superfortress" bombers that were specially modified to carry the weapons, Coster-Mullen describes the design, configuration, materials and assembly procedures of "Little Boy" and "Fat Man" to an unprecedented level of detail. But wait, there's more! The bulk of "Atom Bombs" is made up of appendices containing hundreds of pages of photos, drawings, sketches, patent applications and declassified source documents that reveal nearly every detail about the design, development, construction and testing of "Little Boy" and "Fat Man" that you could ever want to know. This is really "nuts and bolts" stuff, literally. Finally, there are over 30 pages of endnotes, which themselves constitute a unique and valuable resource. You'll know more when you finish reading "Atom Bombs" than you can learn from all of the other books on the subject combined. It gets my highest possible recommendation.

Without a doubt, John Coster-Mullen's work is the definitive historical archive on the development of Little Boy and Fat Man (once you read the book, you'll understand why I call it an "archive"!). Declassified documents and photographs chronicle the creation of these crude weapons from early drop shapes (Fat Boy, Y-1222, Pumpkin, and Thin Man) to the combat weapons used in WWII. The descriptions, drawings, and photographs of components used in these weapons (to include, but not limited to timers, baro switches, radar, casing, trap door, capsule, etc) is superb; anyone who worked in the nuclear weapons community or was an Army, Navy, Marine Corps, or Air Force nuclear weapons tech will certainly relate to this material. The book also contains extensive lists of tools and equipment used to assemble LB and FM, photo's of facilities on Tinian used to assemble the bombs, and documentation on the 509th's bombing missions. The declassified LANL photographs and John's photographs of bomb casings are priceless.
A superb historical document and a must have for museums, universities, and anyone interested in our Cold War history.

The author has gathered together diverse and new primary source information and direct research (detail measuring and photographing surviving Little Boy and Fat Man type bombs in museums; visiting Tinian in the Pacific and sites in the US and documenting them in detail as well), interviews with Manhattan Project and 509th group survivors, and more. The result is a treasure trove of rich detail on what was done, how, and by whom as the atom bombs were being prepared and used in World War 2. It adds considerably to the available detailed history of the end of the war. Strongly recommended.

In first thumbing through this book, one might think it is too technical for the average reader of history. Although the book focuses on the scientific and engineering complexities of the first two atomic bombs, the operations of preparing and delivering the bombs are laid out in lucid, exciting prose. The author clearly presents details that were top secret for many decades; and he stops just short of revealing things that are still classified. This book really lets you know how the now relatively primitive nuclear bombs worked; but in a readable and fascinating way. Some readers will skip the most detailed material, but the rest of the book is stunning in its interest. I, the writer of this review, am a retired physicist and am in a position to cross-check many of the details. To the best of my knowledge, it is all correct. But most importantly, it is a good read.

Why has this book not been issued by a big name publisher? I would guess that there are two factors. First, the publisher might think the potential market would be limited to a few nerds and ex-Manhattan Project people. Not so; it is of general interest, especially to those interested in modern technology and WWII history. Second, a publisher might be concerned about the possibility of security issues - and that tingling, knife-edge separation from a security violation is one of the things that makes this book so great.

The print quality and format are fully professional and the very many illustrations are better than usually found in books by major publishers.

I have read a wealth of other materials related to the Manhattan project, intent on illuminating the historical and political circumstances that led to the quest ultimately culminating in the production of the two types of A-bomb used at the end of WW2, as well as dwelling on the scientifical and technical breakthroughs that made this possible.

After combing the wikipedia, reading "109 East Palace: Robert Oppenheimer and the Secret City of Los Alamos", etc. I thought that I would never get any closer to what really happened in Los Alamos and other locations in the United States -all of them shrouded in deep secrecy at the time- from the moment the project was started until its sucessful completion in the summer of 1945.

True that from other sources I got a feeling of what was transpiring at the moment -both in regard to world geopolitics and to the very innards of the American atomic project-. BUT the technical details, be it about the making of the bomb or about the managerial/organizational aspects of the project were scarce.

So what does Mr. Coster-Mullen offer us to complement and enrich the extant body of literature?

Putting it bluntly and succintly: A hell of a LOT.

Given that the author has found no publisher willing to issue his material in hard-bound form -which in itself is a strong indication hinting at how 'cool' the contents really are-, what you get is a spiral-bound, high-quality laser-printed tome encompassing over 400 pages choke-full with unique information.

The dimensions of the book correspond to those of an A4 format. The quality of the pictures and the printing is by no means short of that of conventionally printed books. In fact, I would say it is superior by and large.

Even the spiral binding has its advantages: it is very convenient in that you can effortlessly keep the book open and be at ease whilst poring over the materials included.

The contents include extremely accurate historical details about the Trinity test and the bombing missions over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, to start with. All of this with lots of technical and structural details about the bombs interspersed in the text. But that's just the beginning ...

The assembly and delivery of the bombs is covered down to the minutest detail, which in itself makes for a historical document of the highest caliber, but this is not the strongest point of the book, in my opinion.

The thing that makes this book one of a kind is its very many photographs, technical sketches, outlines, pictures of componentry and other graphic information that let you know about the bombs possibly more than the vast majority of the people involved in the project did know at the time. I am convinced no other source can match this -I think unique- feature of the book. No matter whether you are interested in the details of the tail of the bomb, the fins, the cork lining in the frontal part of the casing, the trigger mechanism, the barometric openings, etc. Sure not everything is there -of necessity-, but I don't believe you are going to find more details anywhere else.

And still there are exclusive drawings made by high-technicians who took part in the project, interviews that obviously nobody will be able to repeat in the future again -the WW2 generation is disappearing at a fast pace-, declassified materials that surfaced from KGB files after the downfall of the Soviet Union -notably, stuff allegedly passed over to the Soviets by Klaus Fuchs, the Rosenbergs and other spies that leaked into the core of the American atomic project in the 40's- and lots of declassified dossiers, documents and timetables that let you know how it all was made, what was the nature of the intricate difficulties encountered on the way towards the bomb and, broadly speaking, what were the inner technical and bureaucratic workings of the American industrial and military machine at the time.

All in all, a priceless glimpse into a time when the world was literally at a crossroads.

Historical and technical scholarship at its finest, and clearly out of love to history and an eagerness to determine the truth of what happened and how it happened: speaking from a purely materialistic viewpoint, I don't think any economic benefits accruing from the sales of this book are going to pay off for the countless hours invested by the author in gathering information, taking interviews, researching the facts and so on. His true reward is of a different sort, and it can be stated without hesitation that he has sacrificed a lot of time, in what constitutes an act of pure generosity, in order to let us learn more and better about the subject treated in his work.

It makes you feel as if though you had been somehow involved in the Manhattan Project after going through the book.

This is why 5 stars aren't still enough to give this book its due rating.

After reading a fascinating article in the New Yorker about the author and his passion for atom bomb research, I gave this book as a Christmas gift to a hard to please engineer friend who has a 20+ year interest in the subject matter. His typical criticism about a-bomb books is that they are sugar-coated not technical enough. I'm happy to report that this one gets two thumbs up across the board. Mr. Coster-Mullen has obviously put together a well-researched, serious document. His dedication and hard work shine!

The December 15, 2008 issue of New Yorker contains a lengthy and fascinating story about the author of this book. "Atomic John: A truck driver uncovers secrets about the first nuclear bombs" by David Samuels, is every bit as engrossing as the book itself. Having read the book before the magazine article I had assumed that the author was a scientist of world renown, not the over-the-road truck driver who has devoted much of his life researching the subject, writing, and even printing the book and mailing it to the purchasers from his home in Waukesha, Wisconsin. The New Yorker article should be included as an addendum to the book.

This is an excellent compendium of open-source (probably unclassified) materials about the making of the two atomic bombs that ended WW2 in the Pacific. It is more technical than it is biographical, in that it deals more with what went on than who did what. The author has done a great job of finding all this data and bringing it together in some sort of order that makes sense to the reader.
The seller was fast and responsive to email queries, the book protected in bubble wrap, and all was exactly as advertised.

I purchased this book so I could make detailed graphic models of these weapons' exteriors. But this book gives me all the details to do their interiors as well, and showing the different components "doing their stuff". The text on those involved, especially the air and ground crews, is just great.
Just absolutely fantastic!

A fantastically detailed book on the construction of the first atomic bomb! The author has gone to great lengths to nail down just how they put together the most most destructive force man has ever seen. This book is more focused on construction than design, but the author does include some equations for those interested. The narrative provides a window into the world of 1945. This book is chock full of photos and detailed drawings and notes. Very cool for those interested in the beginning of the Atomic Age!