Robert Oppenheimer: Letters and Recollections (Harvard Paperbacks) [Paperback]

Robert Oppenheimer (Author), Alice Kimball Smith (Editor), Charles Weiner (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

Review

“A beautifully organized collection of letters and reminiscences. . . . The editors have interviewed those who knew and worked with him, stirred in the necessary explanatory background, and produced an account, both scholarly and highly readable, which throws fresh light on a man who will probably always remain something of an enigma. Amid devotional defense and almost rabid attack, their book is a model of objectivity.”—New York Times Book Review

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 387 pages
• Publisher: Harvard University Press; 2nd Edition edition (September 15, 1981)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0674776062
• ISBN-13: 978-0674776067
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,232,081 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great reference!, May 5, 2001

By 

Gwynna (Hollins University, Roanoke, VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Robert Oppenheimer: Letters and Recollections (Harvard Paperbacks) (Hardcover)

This book is not meant as general reading. For more colorful writing, see Smith's _A Peril and a Hope_. Letters and Recollections is, however, an incredibly valuable resource for those of us researching the time period and Oppenheimer. There were letters, interviews, and insights that I simply could not have obtained anywhere else. Smith has a personal connection with Los Alamos, and that shows in her writing and sources. She gives an side to Oppenheimer like no other book I've read (and trust me, I've read a lot of them). Thank you, A.K.S.!

5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A peek at an enigma, 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: Robert Oppenheimer: Letters and Recollections (Stanford Nuclear Age Series) (Paperback)

J. Robert Oppenheimer was better at keeping himself hidden than most people, and you won't learn a lot about him from these letters, but it does a give a rare, patial glimpse of a very mysterious person.

5 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Very disappointing and quite boring, August 23, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Robert Oppenheimer: Letters and Recollections (Stanford Nuclear Age Series) (Paperback)

A good book of letters should bring its subject to life for the reader. This book is dry to the point of being brittle. At no time time during the reading of this book did I get any sense of what Oppenheimer was feeling or experiencing. Oppenheimer was involved with one of the pivotal events of this century and the whole experience comes off like a trip to a neighborhood store. The recollections mentioned in the title are not those of Oppenheimer but of friends and family. Like the rest of the book their thoughts and memories add little to the understanding of Oppenheimer's life and work.