Now It Can Be Told: The Story Of The Manhattan Project (Quality Paperbacks Series) [Paperback]

General Leslie R. Groves (Author)

Book Description

Series: Quality Paperbacks Series | Publication Date: March 22, 1983

General Leslie Groves and J. Robert Oppenheimer were the two men chiefly responsible for the building of the first atomic bomb at Los Alamos, code name "The Manhattan Project." As the ranking military officer in charge of marshalling men and material for what was to be the most ambitious, expensive engineering feat in history, it was General Groves who hired Oppenheimer (with knowledge of his left-wing past), planned facilities that would extract the necessary enriched uranium, and saw to it that nothing interfered with the accelerated research and swift assembly of the weapon.This is his story of the political, logistical, and personal problems of this enormous undertaking which involved foreign governments, sensitive issues of press censorship, the construction of huge plants at Hanford and Oak Ridge, and a race to build the bomb before the Nazis got wind of it. The role of groves in the Manhattan Project has always been controversial. In his new introduction the noted physicist Edward Teller, who was there at Los Alamos, candidly assesses the general's contributions—and Oppenheimer's—while reflecting on the awesome legacy of their work.

Product Details

• Paperback: 496 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press (March 22, 1983)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0306801892
• ISBN-13: 978-0306801891
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #510,921 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

49 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best Project Management books I have ever read, January 30, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Now It Can Be Told: The Story Of The Manhattan Project (Quality Paperbacks Series) (Paperback)

I read this book in the early 1960's when it was first published. I was in engineering school then, in India, and my interest in reading the book was to learn the story of the greatest scientific achievement of the 20th century. The book is so fascinating and so readable that I read it in four hours without interruption and then went back to the first page and read it again in the next four hours. I wanted to memorize every event in the book, word for word. What fascinated me about the book was not only the scientific aspects of atomic energy and the development of the atom bomb, which are described in layman's terms, but the extraordinary skills and drive of General Leslie Groves in taking the project from concept to fruition, notwithstanding the sinister goal of the project. It is one of the best project management books I have ever read. It built in me a tremendous respect for the ability of Americans to carry out such a complex project in a time critical situation. Oppenheimer got all the glory of being the father of the atom bomb, but it was General Leslie Groves who was the driving force behind it. Without him the project would not have succeeded in such difficult times. I think the book should be a required reading in all business management schools.

41 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The head of the project tells his story, May 5, 1999

By 

Stephen M. St Onge "Stephen M. St. Onge" (Mpls, MN USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Now It Can Be Told: The Story Of The Manhattan Project (Quality Paperbacks Series) (Paperback)

Gen. Groves deputy on the Manhatten Project, Gen. Keith Nichols, was once asked what he thought of he thought of Groves. He began by saying "Leslie Groves is the biggest son-of-a $%&%* I ever met in my life" and ended by saying that of all the people he'd met in his life, he didn't think any of them could have done as well as Groves in running the Manhatten Project. I think that if he'd been put in charge in Jan. of '43, instead of Sept., the war probably would have ended earlier, saving hundreds of thousands of lives. This book shows him at his egotistical best and worst, and is essential for understanding how and why the U.S. got the bomb before Japan was invaded. Just don't expect any modesty at all.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best Project Management books I have ever read, January 30, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Now It Can Be Told: The Story Of The Manhattan Project (Quality Paperbacks Series) (Paperback)

I read this book in the early 1960's when it was first published. I was in engineering school then, in India, and my interest in reading the book was to learn the story of the greatest scientific achievement of the 20th century. The book is so fascinating and so readable that I read it in four hours without interruption and then went back to the first page and read it again in the next four hours. I wanted to memorize every event in the book, word for word. What fascinated me about the book was not only the scientific aspects of atomic energy and the development of the atom bomb, which are described in layman's terms, but the extraordinary skills and drive of General Leslie Groves in taking the project from concept to fruition, notwithstanding the sinister goal of the project. It is one of the best project management books I have ever read. It built in me a tremendous respect for the ability of Americans to carry out such a complex project in a time critical situation. Oppenheimer got all the glory of being the father of the atom bomb, but it was General Leslie Groves who was the driving force behind it. Without him the project would not have succeeded in such difficult times. I think the book should be a required reading in all business management schools.