Red Cloud at Dawn: Truman, Stalin, and the End of the Atomic Monopoly [Hardcover]

Michael D. Gordin (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0374256829 | ISBN-13: 978-0374256821 | Publication Date: September 29, 2009 | Edition: First Edition

On August 29, 1949, the first Soviet test bomb, dubbed First Lightning, exploded in the deserts of Kazakhstan. The startling event was not simply a technical experiment that confirmed the ability of the Soviet Union to build nuclear bombs during a period when the United States held a steadfast monopoly; it was also an international event that marked the beginning of an arms race that would ultimately lead to nuclear proliferation beyond the two superpowers.

 

Following a trail of espionage, secrecy, deception, political brinksmanship, and technical innovation, Michael D. Gordin challenges conventional technology-centered nuclear histories by looking at the prominent roles that atomic intelligence and other forms of information play in the uncertainties of nuclear arms development and political decision-making. With the use of newly opened archives, Red Cloud at Dawn focuses on the extraordinary story of First Lightning to provide a fresh understanding of the origins of the nuclear arms race, as well as the all-too-urgent problem of proliferation.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The world waited anxiously for the other shoe to drop, according to this history of the fraught period between America's atomic bombing of Japan and the Soviet Union's 1949 test of its first nuclear device. Princeton historian of science Gordin (Five Days in August) treats the era as a study in the pitfalls of incomplete information. American officials tried to keep nuclear technology secret (but not too secret: they fretted that not publishing crucial data would tell the Soviets what to look for) and conjectured endlessly about when Russia would get the bomb. Meanwhile, the Soviets, working from espionage and revealing American public sources, wondered whether their information on bomb making was trustworthy and struggled to overcome huge gaps in their knowledge. When American radiological monitors detected a Soviet nuclear blast in 1949, American officials worried about the geopolitical fallout from revealing their knowledge of the Russian success, which Stalin kept secret. Gordin's suggestion that the mania for information control furthered an arms race that might have been avoided seems dubious, but his account of the epistemological hall of mirrors that was the early cold war is fluent. 7 b&w illus. (Oct. 7)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

Praise for Red Cloud at Dawn

“Gordin has crafted a quite wonderful book . . . [It] greatly expands what we should know about the contest for nuclear supremacy in the early Cold War. Heartily recommended.” —Ed Goedeken, Library Journal

“More than a tale of scientific ingenuity, [Red Cloud at Dawn] probes the human motives of those involved in a high-stakes drama . . . A perceptive study, rich with implications for a twenty-first-century world still fraught with nuclear tensions.” —Bryce Christensen, Booklist

“Michael Gordin brings vividly to life the end of the American atomic monopoly. By focusing on what each side knew—and did not know—about the other, he sheds new and original light on the origins of the U.S.-Soviet nuclear arms race. This is a stylish book, with important implications for how we think about nuclear weapons past and present.” —David Holloway, author of Stalin and the Bomb

“Nothing about the early cold war can be understood without grasping the terrifying first few years of nuclear weapons. Everything was in play: who would have them, who would control them, would they be used to enforce a pax Americana. Spies, diplomats, treaties, and detonations—nothing gripped decision makers as much as the atomic arsenal, from screaming headlines to the silent intelligence analyses on both sides of the divide. In Red Cloud at Dawn, Michael Gordin zeros in on the crucial years from Hiroshima to the first flash of ‘Joe 1’ in 1949, the first Russian bomb and the ninth nuclear explosion. Using a spectacular variety of sources from Soviet and American sources, Gordin gives us a book that must be read to understand how we came to the sprawling nuclear proliferation in which we now live.” —Peter Galison, Joseph Pellegrino University Professor, Harvard University

“Beginning with Truman’s revelation to Stalin that the United States had an unusually powerful weapon, Michael Gordin tells the story of the Soviet A-bomb and the origins of the Cold War arms race. The ‘dialectical dance’ of the superpowers entailed a deadly embrace that cost millions but miraculously avoided nuclear holocaust. This is a story of intelligence in both senses of the word—of spies and scientists, of information rather than simply fissionable material and devices. The red mushroom cloud rose on August 29, 1949, and, as Gordin’s compelling narrative shows, the fallout, in its many senses, remains with us today.” —Ronald Suny, Charles Tilly Collegiate Professor of Social and Political History, University of Michigan

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux; First Edition edition (September 29, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374256829
• ISBN-13: 978-0374256821
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,065,595 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Michael Gordin is professor of history at Princeton University, where he specializes in the history of the modern physical sciences and Russian history.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ARMAGEDDON SHARED, October 10, 2009

By 

Paul Gelman "PAUL Y. GELMAN" (HAIFA , ISRAEL) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Red Cloud at Dawn: Truman, Stalin, and the End of the Atomic Monopoly (Hardcover)

August 29,1949 would have been another day in the history of mankind, had it not been the day when the American monopoly over the atom bomb had come to an end.On that day,the first Soviet bomb, called "First Lightning" exploded in the deserts of Kazakhstan.This event was to lead to nuclear proliferation beyond the two supepowers.
The book starts with the Potsdam Conference, where Truman had revealed to the Russian dictator Stalin that the USA were in the possession of a devastating weapon.Stalin remained calm and it was at this point where speculation started as to the reasons of why Stalin has reacted(or did not react)the way he had.One thing was clear:the Russians knew berofehand about the American atom project,called "Manhattan".They obtained this information from so many spies who were responsible for transmitting this news to them.These spies were not necessarily employed by the GRU or the NKGB bosses.There were many scientists, like Klaus Fuchs or Alan Nunn May who were working for comrade Stalin because they shared his ideological ideas.The extent of espionage about the "Manhattan Project" for the development of the first Soviet nuclear bomb became known after the Russian archives holding relevant materials
opened their gates to the public and scholars alike.One of Moscow spymasters was Pavel Sudoplatov-the man who was also responsible for dispatching the man who would assassinate Leon Trotsky in Mexico in 1940.Sudoplatov claimed that Beria summoned him in February 1944 to head a new department (dubbed "S") to deal with atomic espionage.This department was to integrate the information which the NKGB and the GRU got from their various sources.The name of the whole espionage operation was "Enormoz",showing the extent of suh a mammoth enterprise.
There were many rings of spies that were vying for the atom secrets.The most famous one was the notorious Cambridge Five Group.Among its members there were Kim Philby and Guy Burgess.
Then the defection of Igor Gouzenko, a Russian cipher clerk ,in Canada in 1945, demonstrated again what the west had suspected before: the most secret project of theirs was riddlled with spies and informers.
But ,as Professor Gordin makes it clear, all this information was not good enough for the Russians.They had so many pieces of information but they never knew whether these purloined secret papers were authentic or part of a deception plan.Second, they needed a lot of scientists to make sense of the huge amount of information that was making its way to the center of Moscow.
Third, the Russians were not naive.At the end of WW2, they have taken steps in order to ensure that Nazi scientists ,who were suspected of having relevant infornmation about nuclear fission,would be convinced to cross over to their side.The recruitment of German scientists was to take part during May to November 1945 and this process continued until 1948.The recruited were scientists, engineers and lab assistants-three hundred in all.
The following chapters of the book detail the everyday routine of those working to satisfy Stalin and his henchman, Beria.Professor Gordin asks many questions about what each side knew or did not know about the other's intentions.
We also get a very detailed account of the American reactions when they heard about the successful Russian experiment.These is done with the help of many American and Russian sources offering new perspectives on the issue.He highlights the role played by key players in this drama, such as Bernard Baruch,David Lilienthal and Dean Acheson as well as those scientists who were responsible for the development of the Russian bomb.
Nuclear proliferation started in 1949 and is still with us,unfortunately.This is why this book is so relevant and merits to be read by everyone who cares about our planet.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent study of the "atomic monopoly" period 1945-1949, May 16, 2010

By 

David Alan Tussey "Google Advertising Specialist" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Red Cloud at Dawn: Truman, Stalin, and the End of the Atomic Monopoly (Hardcover)

if you are interested in nuclear proliferation and nuclear strategy, then you'll be thrilled reading this book. It is a very, very interesting look at the period of time from the detonation of the "Trinity" test, up until the detonation of "First Lightening" (the Soviet test). Each chapter focuses on a certain side of the government and the politics, such as the "announcement" of Trinity to Stalin, the announcement of the first Soviet test, the effort to put in-place nuclear detection devices...all fascinating.

One thing I would like is more pictures. Many of the figures here, such as the AEC chairman and even the SecDef(s), are mostly unknown today. I'd love to see more pictures of these people, the devices involved, the atomic tests, etc., etc. This was a time of enormous "look at that" stuff, and I wish the book had many more pictures, drawings and illustrations.

Also, I would be thrilled to see the author do a sequel to this book, say the next decade when the atomic bomb led to a full-blown arms race, particularly with the US Strategic Air Command (SAC). That would be fascinating.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Ramifications of August 29, 1949, December 25, 2009

By 

Dave Schranck "Dave" (Anaheim Ca) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Red Cloud at Dawn: Truman, Stalin, and the End of the Atomic Monopoly (Hardcover)

That's the day when the Cold War heated up; it was the day when the Soviet Union exploded their first fission bomb, the US lost its monopoly and the world becomes much more dangerous. Much of what is presented in this enlightening, fact filled book will be the ramifications of that event but the book begins at the Potsdam Conference in 1945 when President Truman tells Stalin of the new weapon the US has. Truman, over confident in the US monopoly in nuclear technology, believed Stalin was ignorant of the Manhattan Project or of the capabilities of nuclear weapons when in reality the Soviet Union knew all about the Manhattan Project and had already started their own program. That over confidence will cause the US to make some poor decisions in the coming years.

Though spending some time describing the Soviet's nuclear program, the author doesn't spend any appreciable time describing the Manhattan Project but delves into the political and intelligence aspects of these two super powers escalating the Arms Race into the 1950s and beyond.
During the Yeltsin era, Soviet classified documents were opened to the public and using this material and other sources the author has updated the Soviet position of what they knew and when they knew it as well as what they did and why they did it. Much coverage is given to the espionage programs of both countries in determining the developments of the other. To complete the story, Mr Gordin describes the actions the US took to block, neutralize and prevent Soviet dominance in the nuclear arms race as well as its standing in the world as our world was becoming polarized. He also describes the political environment Washington was morphing into. Its a fascinating but frightening story that is still shaping the world today. That world became even scarier when both countries started working on Teller's Super Bomb. The author includes the controversy and delay of starting the Super Bomb in the US while the Soviet Union accelerated their research. This is the briefest of outlines for the author covers the whole spectrum of concerns of this conflict.
The author includes a few photos and more importantly an outstanding Notes section and a Source list.

Mr Gordin, a professor and accomplished author has written an important and engaging book about developments that have the potential to overshadow and in some aspects have overshadowed WWII and all generations should read this book to understand the origins of the Arms Race that's impacting our world today.