Rhodes' book on the history of the atomic bomb was a masterpiece; this, on the buildup to the hydrogen bomb, is merely excellent.

The first book has the benefit of a strong through-line and a nice dramatic arc as splitting the atom went from imaginable to possible to inevitable. Reality was more messy for the topics covered here, with Rhodes having to backtrack somewhat to cover Soviet spying on the Manhattan Project that accelerated and enabled their own atomic bomb breakthrough. The American side was somewhat stalled after World War II, only kicked back into action by Soviet progress and the building Cold War tensions and even then plagued by dead ends.

Rhodes does a great job with what he's given, and the benefit of writing this one after the end of the Cold War when Soviet archives and testimony became more widely available. The scientific explanations are as clear and fascinating as ever, and the characters vividly rendered enough that I even grew to hate Strauss and Teller by the very end. And as usual, some of the anecdotes are breathtaking. Highly recommended after you've read Rhodes' first entry in the series, and I'm excited to read his two follow-ups: TWILIGHT OF THE BOMBS and ARSENALS OF FOLLY.