atomic bomb

American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer
$18.95
This biography of Robert Oppenheimer does an excellent job of capturing the legacy of this giant of the early cold war. Oppenheimer, a brilliant young physicist with left leaning politics, was recruited to head up the Manhattan Project to build the atomic bomb. Oppenheimer succeeded brilliantly, with the help of Lloyd Grove and the young scientists Oppenheimer recruited to work on the project. However, a few years later when discussions began of the building of a "super" or h-bomb, Oppenheimer expressed doubts about the morality of the weapon. His old politics were then used against him, and in the context of the McCarthy era witch hunts, Oppenheimer was stripped of his security clearance and effectively barred from ever again working for the government.

The book won multiple awards, all richly deserved. I highly recommend this book.

Trinity & Beyond - The Atomic Bomb Movie
$24.98
I will come out and say that this movie has totally changed how I view man. I thought I new about our nuclear past...now I really know. It is just such an amazing documentary that when you really sit and think about it...the technology in this movie showcases what the world had in the 1960's...I would bet that some of these newer nukes are packing a lot more heat.

I love the part of the documentary where USA is blasting the Russian's for forfeiting the treaty of testing nukes in the atmosphere and says that Russia has no regard for radiative fallout on the world....fast forward a few months....apparently USA has short term memory when they begin testing again. Politics aside...for whatever reason...I felt that clip stood out the most to me.

The ending of this documentary is both chilling and left me sputtering expletives. It was pure insanity to see a training mission heading right into the path of a bomb.

To sum it is...this movie is so good, I will watch it again...something I never do.

Atom Bombs: The Top Secret Inside Story of Little Boy and Fat Man
$49.95
I have read a wealth of other materials related to the Manhattan project, intent on illuminating the historical and political circumstances that led to the quest ultimately culminating in the production of the two types of A-bomb used at the end of WW2, as well as dwelling on the scientifical and technical breakthroughs that made this possible.

After combing the wikipedia, reading "109 East Palace: Robert Oppenheimer and the Secret City of Los Alamos", etc. I thought that I would never get any closer to what really happened in Los Alamos and other locations in the United States -all of them shrouded in deep secrecy at the time- from the moment the project was started until its sucessful completion in the summer of 1945.

True that from other sources I got a feeling of what was transpiring at the moment -both in regard to world geopolitics and to the very innards of the American atomic project-. BUT the technical details, be it about the making of the bomb or about the managerial/organizational aspects of the project were scarce.

So what does Mr. Coster-Mullen offer us to complement and enrich the extant body of literature?

Putting it bluntly and succintly: A hell of a LOT.

Given that the author has found no publisher willing to issue his material in hard-bound form -which in itself is a strong indication hinting at how 'cool' the contents really are-, what you get is a spiral-bound, high-quality laser-printed tome encompassing over 400 pages choke-full with unique information.

The dimensions of the book correspond to those of an A4 format. The quality of the pictures and the printing is by no means short of that of conventionally printed books. In fact, I would say it is superior by and large.

Even the spiral binding has its advantages: it is very convenient in that you can effortlessly keep the book open and be at ease whilst poring over the materials included.

The contents include extremely accurate historical details about the Trinity test and the bombing missions over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, to start with. All of this with lots of technical and structural details about the bombs interspersed in the text. But that's just the beginning ...

The assembly and delivery of the bombs is covered down to the minutest detail, which in itself makes for a historical document of the highest caliber, but this is not the strongest point of the book, in my opinion.

The thing that makes this book one of a kind is its very many photographs, technical sketches, outlines, pictures of componentry and other graphic information that let you know about the bombs possibly more than the vast majority of the people involved in the project did know at the time. I am convinced no other source can match this -I think unique- feature of the book. No matter whether you are interested in the details of the tail of the bomb, the fins, the cork lining in the frontal part of the casing, the trigger mechanism, the barometric openings, etc. Sure not everything is there -of necessity-, but I don't believe you are going to find more details anywhere else.

And still there are exclusive drawings made by high-technicians who took part in the project, interviews that obviously nobody will be able to repeat in the future again -the WW2 generation is disappearing at a fast pace-, declassified materials that surfaced from KGB files after the downfall of the Soviet Union -notably, stuff allegedly passed over to the Soviets by Klaus Fuchs, the Rosenbergs and other spies that leaked into the core of the American atomic project in the 40's- and lots of declassified dossiers, documents and timetables that let you know how it all was made, what was the nature of the intricate difficulties encountered on the way towards the bomb and, broadly speaking, what were the inner technical and bureaucratic workings of the American industrial and military machine at the time.

All in all, a priceless glimpse into a time when the world was literally at a crossroads.

Historical and technical scholarship at its finest, and clearly out of love to history and an eagerness to determine the truth of what happened and how it happened: speaking from a purely materialistic viewpoint, I don't think any economic benefits accruing from the sales of this book are going to pay off for the countless hours invested by the author in gathering information, taking interviews, researching the facts and so on. His true reward is of a different sort, and it can be stated without hesitation that he has sacrificed a lot of time, in what constitutes an act of pure generosity, in order to let us learn more and better about the subject treated in his work.

It makes you feel as if though you had been somehow involved in the Manhattan Project after going through the book.

This is why 5 stars aren't still enough to give this book its due rating.

Atomic Bomb Collection Complete Library (including Trinity and Beyond)
$74.98
I wouldn't recommend this product. It is poorly edited and produced.
It safe to say that it is a patch of bits and pieces with no depth.
If you are simply interested on watching nuclear explosion, then this
might be something to consider. For the earlier history of the subject,
I would recommend "The Moment in Time: The Manhattan Project" and
you don't have to pay a dime for it. You can watch it on the net.