This is probably one of the most thorough histories of the atomic bomb (and only the atomic bomb, because of course Rhodes wrote a second book on the Hydrogen bomb), and it was wonderful.

This book starts in the early 1900s with scientists discovering the atos torulym and moves through the discoveries and the key people that drove these efforts. Rhodes describes the science in such a clear way and brings each scientist to life. Part 1 ends right around the end of World War 1, and has one of the best written chapters on the needless destruction of war to wrap it up.

The second part of the book picks up, focusing on the American project and how massive the government effort was to truly bring this weapon to fruition. Rhodes ends the entire book just quoting witnesses of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings, reminding readers what exactly the government did.

The first half was stronger than the second (I just love hearing about the scientists, their dramas, their snappy insults, and their ways of proving their theories correct). Rhodes does such a good job of giving you certain scientists to carry you through the massive amount of story without throwing you too much in the deep end (there is still a lot of names, alas).

I can't emphasize how worth it this brick of a book is and how I might just reread it in several years.

Dry and with more of the science than I expected, I found this book fascinating and gripping. The first half of the book traces the 20th century history of nuclear science into the second world war and the key scientists themselves. The second half is the recognition of the bomb as a possibility leading into the production and use of nuclear weaponry, with more focus on the politics and administration of the Manhattan Project.  

Trigger warning for the use of many quotes using slurs for the Japanese, presented without warning or comment. The book also contains fairly gruesome accounts of the aftermath of both the nuclear bombs and firebombings. 

There are some truly bad sentences in here and I don’t mind saying so. Unfortunately, the last sentence of the entire book is one of these poopers. 

Overall a good book for bedtime reading as it just goes on and on and on and on and on about interpersonal relationships between white men in the 1930s.  Snooze fest, really. Until you get to the 14 pages of bomb victim first hand accounts which is out of place tonally and completely horrifying, but a necessary addition. At that point it became a daytime book. 

I went through the whole thing desperate for illustrations and photos. There are some at the very end but that’s a bad place and they aren’t useful physics diagrams. 

I don’t regret reading, but I would not recommend to anyone afraid of fat books. This made me want to read more about the other labs and manufacturing developments as well as the fanboy attitude  people have around Oppenheimer which is taken as gospel in all the Los Alamos books I read but never really explained. 

Edit to add: This book sure does try to cover a lot of ground. As such there are gaps in the science and the politics throughout, leaving you with many questions. Maybe this should have been a series of books. I didn’t realize this won a Pulitzer and I’m concerned others are calling this the most comprehensive history because I have questions.