Manhattan Project : The Untold Story of the Making of the Atomic Bomb

I JUST HAD TO RESPOND TO THE REVIEW OF MR. C. SCANLON. FIRST OFF THE JAPANESE HAD NOT SURRENDERED WHEN WE DROPPED THE BOMBS. THEY DIDN'T SURRENDER UNTIL SEVERAL DAYS AFTER THE ATOMIC BOMBING OF HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI AND THEN ONLY AFTER A FAILED PALACE COUP BY THE ARMY! A COUP THAT FAILED IN NO SMALL PART BECAUSE OF THE FINAL B-29 FIRE BOMBING RAID OF THE WAR. AND IF YOU WANT TO TALK ABOUT HISTORICAL,POLITICAL,RELIGIOUS AND MORAL ABDICATION YOU NEED TO SPEAK TO THE JAPANESE WHO PERPETRATED THE RAPE OF NANKING!ALSO WHEN THE MASS MURDERING FASCIST SCUM OF THE WORLD STOP TEACHING THE LESSONS OF WAR WE IN THE PEACE AND FREEDOM LOVING DEMOCRACIES WILL NO LONGER FEEL THE NEED TO LEARN THEM SO WELL!MY FATHER WAS A COMBAT MARINE IN WWII. HE FOUGHT ON GUAM AND IWO JIMA AND DID'T HAVE HIS 18TH BIRTHDAY UNTIL THE DAY AFTER THEY DECLARED IWO JIMA SECURE! SO I THANK GOD THAT THAT OLD MISSOURI REDNECK HARRY TRUMAN(TRU-MAN:NEVER WAS A PERSON MORE APTLY NAMED)DROPPED THOSE BOMBS!AGAIN I SAY THANK GOD!

Never in the history of the United States, before or since, has the full assets of the country been thrown behind the solution of a single engineering problem. Every resource, scientific and financial, was provided upon request. The results were a phenomenal success. This account was written at a time when the primary sources were almost all still available for their first hand insight. The implications of this story for future generations of Americans are far reaching. A must read.

There isn't much I can add to what other reviewers have said other than concur that this is a fascinating book. The challenges that faced the Nobel Laureates, scientists, engineers, managers of American's largest corporations, and military were beyond imagination. Groueff does an excellent job developing character profiles of people involved in the Project -- all in brief sketches. You will especially enjoy this account if you have ever visited or traveled through Oak Ridge, TN, Hanford, WA, Los Alamos, NM, the University of Chicago, the old Woolworth Building in New York, DuPont Chemical Company, the American Chicle Company chewing gum factory in New York... well, maybe you get the idea how varied the real story is.

This book is fascinating. The characters in this book were not only technically brilliant, but bold leaders, as well.The author has produced a readable book that resembles a novel. Yet, it does not gloss over the technical aspects. If you are an engineer or a scientist, you will particularly appreciate this book.

I read this book as a teenager when it first came out in 1967, and it has stayed with me ever since (to the point where I have recently sought out used copies of the paperback and hardbound editions). It is written in something of a "heroes of science and industry" tone that itself helps to convey the straightforward sense of urgency and righteousness that drove the development of the Bomb, and it completely captivated me and began for me a lifelong fascination with the Manhattan Project. Few other books I've read have made science and engineering seem so thrilling. I'm delighted to see it in print again!