Steve Sheinkin
Category: YA
nonfiction; History; Politics & Washington
Synopsis: Sheinkin
relates the building, testing, and use of the atomic bomb in World War II.
Date finished: 7
August 2014
Rating: *****
Comments:
Oh. My. Goodness.
Through much of this book, I thought I would be rating it a
three or four. It was very well-written, but it wasn’t entirely compelling. It
felt too much like a high school U.S. history textbook—lots of facts, not a lot
of application to life. But I kept reading, because, frankly, I really don’t
remember learning about the atomic bomb, and definitely don’t remember learning
about the spying that was involved.
About the time the worksite in Los Alamos was formed and
staffed, the book took an upturn and became very intriguing. Though, of course,
I knew how it all ended, the events leading up to the building, testing, and
use of the atomic bomb were riveting. As soon as fission is confirmed, the
great powers of the 1940s world are in a panic for the weapon to end all
weapons. There is spying. There are double agents. And, of course, there is the
frenzied race to build the bomb before the Nazis.
And then President Truman’s decision to use the bomb on
Japan to end the war.
It’s this last part, the dropping of the bombs and the
aftermath around the world, that makes this an outstanding book. Sheinkin captures
the terrible destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and provides eyewitness
accounts by survivors. But beyond this, he conveys the mixture of emotions felt
by those responsible for creating this terrible weapon: grief, guilt, horror,
pride, relief, exhaustion, fear. Oppenheimer, the “father” of the atomic bomb, especially,
was stricken by what he’d help accomplish. Had humanity just created its doom?
It was an eye-opening and sobering coda to an ugly war. I found this part of
the book so powerful, I think I will always carry the feeling with me. Never
will I look at this part of human history in quite the same way.
And just as the creation of the bomb wasn’t the end of the
story, the use of the bomb wasn’t the end either. The period following World
War II became a race among nations to build and stockpile bigger and “better” nuclear weapons. Oppenheimer argued that the period after WWII was a
time to step back from the arms race, not ramp it up. He knew the greed for
more weapons would take on a life
of its own. It wouldn’t take long before it would no longer be
about ending a war, ensuring national security, or even intimidating rogue
nations, it would become about terrorism, annihilation, and genocide. We need
look no further than the current turmoil in the Middle East to see his prophesy
come true. (The government, by the way, didn’t like Oppenheimer’s opposition,
so they removed him from the equation by revoking his security clearance.)
A note about this being a YA read: I wouldn’t have been able
to tell, had I not known, that this was not a book for adults. Never does
Sheinkin water down the scientific aspects of the physics involved, and never
does he shield his young audience from the truth of what’s happening. This surprised
and pleased me.
I will say that this is not the kind of book you want to
pick up and put down with several days between readings. There are a lot of
names and events and dates and countries, and it’s hard to keep track of the
details. I know this from experience.
Would you recommend
this to a friend?
Yes, readers of all ages should read this book.
You might also enjoy:
Unbroken
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