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Making of the Atomic Bomb

25th Anniversary Edition

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Making of the Atomic Bomb

Written by: Richard Rhodes
Narrated by: Holter Graham
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About this listen

 **Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the National Book Critics Circle Award**

The definitive history of nuclear weapons—from the turn-of-the-century discovery of nuclear energy to J. Robert Oppenheimer and the Manhattan Project—this epic work details the science, the people, and the sociopolitical realities that led to the development of the atomic bomb.

This sweeping account begins in the 19th century, with the discovery of nuclear fission, and continues to World War Two and the Americans’ race to beat Hitler’s Nazis. That competition launched the Manhattan Project and the nearly overnight construction of a vast military-industrial complex that culminated in the fateful dropping of the first bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Reading like a character-driven suspense novel, the book introduces the players in this saga of physics, politics, and human psychology—from FDR and Einstein to the visionary scientists who pioneered quantum theory and the application of thermonuclear fission, including Planck, Szilard, Bohr, Oppenheimer, Fermi, Teller, Meitner, von Neumann, and Lawrence.

From nuclear power’s earliest foreshadowing in the work of H.G. Wells to the bright glare of Trinity at Alamogordo and the arms race of the Cold War, this dread invention forever changed the course of human history, and The Making of The Atomic Bomb provides a panoramic backdrop for that story.

Richard Rhodes’s ability to craft compelling biographical portraits is matched only by his rigorous scholarship. Told in rich human, political, and scientific detail that any reader can follow, The Making of the Atomic Bomb is a thought-provoking and masterful work. Americas Military Physics Science United States Wars & Conflicts Weapons & Warfare War Imperialism Mathematics Russia Imperial Japan Metaphysical Air Force Franklin D Roosevelt Discovery Interwar Period Nuclear Weapons
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I enjoyed listening to this book so much that I purchased a hard copy. Though it is long it is deeply immersive and each chapter is independently fascinating.

A harrowing and compassionate account of history.

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Great book that delights in its characters and its marginally topical anecdotes. Written in such a way that held my attention, the only way I learn anything.

Sweeping and authoritative

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probably one of the best books ever written, and the narrator in this audiobook is great

phenomenal

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Rich in biographical and just enough technical detail; a rewarding experience about an event of profound consequence that has left humanity forever changed.

Masterful popular history.

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Terrific book. First part is about scientific discoveries leading to nuclear fission, (late 1800s - WW1) second part is very WW2 & manhatten project focused. The book is 37 hours long, its not going to be for everyone. But if your patient enough, this is the definitive story the most important scientific & military event ever.

An epic story

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