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Manhattan Project: The Birth of the Atomic Bomb in the Words of Its Creators, Eyewitnesses and Historians. Hardcover – September 17, 2007
| Richard Rhodes (Introduction) Find all the books, read about the author, and more. See search results for this author |
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Born out of a small research program begun in 1939, the Manhattan Project eventually employed more than 130,000 people, including our foremost scientists and thinkers, and cost nearly $2 billion―and it was operated under a shroud of absolute secrecy. This groundbreaking collection of documents, essays, articles, and excerpts from histories, biographies, plays, novels, letters, and the oral histories of key eyewitnesses is the freshest, most exhaustive exploration yet of the topic.
Compiled by experts at the Atomic Heritage Foundation, the book features first-hand material by Albert Einstein, Leslie Groves, J. Robert Oppenheimer, Leo Szilard, Enrico Fermi, Richard Feynman, Niels Bohr, Henry Stimson, and many others.
Dozens of photographs depict key moments and significant figures, and concise explanatory material accompanies each selection. The project's aftermath and legacy are covered as well, making this the most comprehensive account of the birth of the atomic age.
- Print length400 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherBlack Dog & Leventhal
- Publication dateSeptember 17, 2007
- Dimensions6.5 x 1.62 x 9.3 inches
- ISBN-101579127479
- ISBN-13978-1579127473
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From the Back Cover
This groundbreaking book—the first of its kind—collects the writings and thoughts of the original participants in the Manhattan Project, along with pieces by the most important historians and interpreters of the subject. It is a rich and comprehensive compilation of documents, essays, articles, and excerpts from histories, biographies, plays, novels, letters, oral histories, and more, and is the freshest, most multi-faceted exploration yet of the topic. Including material by and about J. Robert Oppenheimer, Leo Szilard, Albert Einstein, Richard Feynman, Leslie Groves, Klaus Fuchs, Henry Stimson, Vannevar Bush, Harry S. Truman, Niels Bohr, and many other key figures, it also collects the writings and testimony of those in the trenches at the Project, their families, and local eyewitnesses. Finally, the book includes thoughts and concerns about the bomb, set down in the aftermath of its deployment, by politicians, writers, artists, and others who saw that the world would never again be the same.
Assembled with authority and care by the president of the Atomic Heritage Foundation—in cooperation with a team of advising historians that included the Pulitzer Prize-winning Richard Rhodes—The Manhattan Project is an invaluable addition to the historical record as well as a gripping narrative of scientific discovery, military strategy, and moral reflection.
About the Author
Richard Rhodes is the author of twenty-six books, including The Making of the Atomic Bomb, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, a National Book Award, and a National Book Critics Circle Award.
Product details
- Publisher : Black Dog & Leventhal; 1st edition (September 17, 2007)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 400 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1579127479
- ISBN-13 : 978-1579127473
- Item Weight : 1.86 pounds
- Dimensions : 6.5 x 1.62 x 9.3 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #2,184,972 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #810 in Nuclear Weapons & Warfare History (Books)
- #9,961 in Inspiration & Spirituality
- #20,763 in World War II History (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Richard Rhodes is the author of 25 works of history, fiction and letters. He's a Kansas native, a father and grandfather. His book The Making of the Atomic Bomb won a Pulitzer Prize in Nonfiction, a National Book Award and a National Book Critics Circle Award. He lectures widely on subjects related to his books, which run the gamut from nuclear history to the story of mad cow disease to a study of how people become violent to a biography of the 19th-century artist John James Audubon. His latest book is Hell and Good Company, about the people and technologies of the Spanish Civil War. His website is www.RichardRhodes.com.
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This book was a pleasant surprise, and I enjoyed most of it. There were some very different views on the atomic bomb and its development, and most of them were very interesting, and I almost hate to admit it, amusing.
---THE GOOD POINTS
* There is an excellent selection and variety of story tellers, This may be the only book that includes the writings of Nobel Prize winners, senior political leaders, army grunts, follow-along wives, normal civilians just trying to survive, and a few other characters.
* The stories are, for the most part, unvarnished and a bit raw. You can get a feel of the actual emotions behind some of the major players, and of the conflicts that boiled just below (usually) the surface. Of particular interest is the relation between General Groves, in charge of security and the actual operations of the Manhattan Project, and Robert Oppenheimer, in charge of the development. They were probably as different as two people could be, and their relationship should have degenerated into backstabbing and fist fights. Instead they got along pretty well, each complementing -and in some cases feeding- the other's limitations.
* Several of the stories border on the absurd and humerous. One junior scientist tells of his assigned duty to "guard" the first atomic bomb as it sat in its tower the night before the test. Our hero is unarmed, sitting 100 feet in the air on a folding chair, and spends the night wondering if the lighting storm could in any way trigger the 20 kiloton bomb he is sitting next to. Hollywood couldn't write something that crazy.
* The viewpoints of Japanese civilians and leaders are represented. Some of these seem a little self-serving, some will make you feel sick.
* The thoughts of American servicemen who missed out on the opportunity for a high-casualty invasion of Japan are quite enlightening.
---THE NOT SO GOOD POINTS---
* Some of the material could have been skipped. I had no time for excerpts from fictionalized stories based on the events at Los Alamos. Who knows what part of them are fact and fiction....and why bother. There is no shortage of non-fiction memoirs.
* The last two sections of the book are devoted to the reactions after the bomb was dropped, and the history of atomic weapons after 1945. Most of these writings are from senior politicians and political commentators of one sort or another. Coming after the sharp-edged accounts of US servicemen and bomb observers, these accounts come across as pompous, bloated, overly complicated opinions by people who are very impressed with themselves. General Groves and Robert Oppenheimer would have fired all of them in a nanosecond.
* I have read quite a bit of material on this subject, so I am not a good judge of how well this book would be received by anyone unfamiliar with the subject. I suspect some of the stories are rimeless and will resonate with anyone, while others require at least a passing knowledge of the Manhattan Project and its technology to be appreciated. Much of the material is presented with limited preamble or explanation.
---SUMMARY---
I enjoyed the book, and was glad I read it. Most of the tales are interesting, well-written, and captivating. A small percentage seemed overly bloated and wordy, and I would have just as soon skipped over them.
If you'e a buff, you've probably seen this material in the original, and this second-hand book won't add much to your knowledge. But if, like me, you're a newbie to the Manhattan Project, you can read this book and then read ten more books from the excellent bibliography.
As a child born in the 1950s who has always lived under the shadow of nuclear annihilation, this book brings clarity to every question about why, how and what-if that has surrounded this supernatural science.
Personalities are revealed, tension is expressed due to the urgency of the effort and the underlying secrecy that surrounded this effort bring new questions into your mind. It's a great book. Give it your time!
Except for the graphic parts about the effects of the bombs on people. That was horrid and grim. I know that this is what happened, but I don't like reading it any more than I like reading about what went on in Nazi concentration camps. So I mention this as a warning. You can always skip over that chapter. Or maybe you have a stronger stomach than I have.
Anyway, I followed this up by reading The Girls of Atomic City, and it was a good companion book.
But this book about the Manhattan Project uses a lot of original documents, which always makes history interesting.
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