Description

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A first-person historical record of the Manhattan Project, and the events leading to the birth of the Atomic bomb, as told by the researchers, scientists, and developers intimately involved in its creation. 

The creation of the atomic bomb during World War II, codenamed the Manhattan Project, was one of the most significant and clandestine scientific undertakings of the 20th century. The program, led by physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, forever changed the nature of war and cast a shadow over civilization. Born out of a small research program that began in 1939, the Manhattan Project would eventually employ nearly 600,000 people and cost about $2 billion ($28.5 billion in 2020) -- all while operating under a shroud of complete secrecy.

This groundbreaking collection of essays, articles, documents, and excerpts from histories, biographies, plays, novels, letters, and oral histories remains the most comprehensive collection of primary source material of the atomic bomb. It includes contributions from Edward Teller, Enrico Fermi, Richard Feynman, Richard Rhodes, Neils Bohr, J. Robert Oppenheimer, Winston Churchill Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Albert Einstein, just to name a few. This newest edition of The Manhattan Project is updated with writings and reflections from the past decade and a half, including from President Barack Obama, hibakusha (survivors), and the modern-day mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 

About the Author

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Cynthia C. Kelly is the president of the Atomic Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C., and the editor of several books on the subject including Remembering the Manhattan Project.
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.

Praise For…

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"A wonderful addition to the literature on the development of the atomic bomb. This rich anthology... enhances our knowledge of the formative years of the nuclear era and underscores the perils we still face."—Kai Bird, co-author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning American Prometheus

"It's both a wonderful service to history and a fascinating book to read."—Walter Isaacson, author of Einstein: His Life and Universe and Leonardo Da Vinci

"The definitive anthology on the Manhattan Project."—Gregg Herken, author of Brotherhood of the Bomb