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American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer
by Kai Bird (Author), Martin J. Sherwin (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 4,593 ratings
'Reads like a thriller, gripping and terrifying' - Sunday Times
Physicist and polymath, as familiar with Hindu scriptures as he was with quantum mechanics,J. Robert Oppenheimer - director of the Manhattan Project that developed the atomic bomb - was the most famous scientist of his generation. In their meticulous and riveting biography, Kai Bird andMartin J. Sherwin reveal a brilliant, ambitious, complex and flawed man, profoundly involved with some of the momentous events of the twentieth century.
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'Reads like a thriller, gripping and terrifying by turns... No more absorbing biography will, Ipredict, come out this year, nor, given the dangers we face, a more important one.' - John Carey,Sunday Times
'Fascinating... Enthralling... All previous works on the topic are, in the nicest possiblesense, blown out of the sky by a book which is, in both the proper and metaphorical meanings,monumental.' - Mark Lawson, Esquire
'No previous biography has... matched the power, range and lucidity of Martin Sherwin and KaiBird's Life... Its combination of meticulous scholarship and felicitous prose grasps the drama ofOppenheimer's life in all its riveting complexity. ' - Sunday Telegraph
'A giant among biographies, a life story that at times reads like a thriller but which is alsodeeply authoritative and persuasively informative.... Magisterial.' -Observer
'This is a magisterial biography: a masterpiece that has taken decades to puttogether.'- Kathryn Hughes, Mail on Sunday
About the Author
Kai Bird is a contributing editor at The Nation and the author of several biographies, includingThe Chairman, The Color of Truth, The Good Spy and The Outlier. He is the recipient of a GuggenheimFellowship and a MacArthur Writing Fellowship
Martin J. Sherwin was a Professor of History at George Mason University. His other books include AWorld Destroyed, winner of the Stuart L. Bernath and the American History Bookprizes, and Gambling with Armageddon.
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From Australia
Pamela M Bores
5.0 out of 5 stars A Great read after seeming the movie
Reviewed in Australia on 22 August 2023
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The book “American Prometheus” The triumph and Tragedy of J Robert Oppenheimer” is a really interesting read. As always, the book includes all the things that can never be included in a film - even one as good as Oppenheimer .
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D Lewis
5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent biography.
Reviewed in Australia on 15 August 2023
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The book that Oppenheimer (2023) was based on. Actually explained to me (not deliberately of course) some of the more odd acting choices. And filled out the story more. This most enigmatic and problematic of scientists is keenly and insightfully analysed.
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Arnold M
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book on the life of the man that won the A-Bomb race.
Reviewed in Australia on 19 July 2023
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The book is thorough and pays attention to the backstory on the father of the A-Bomb. A decent read and even better as an audio book. Listening to the audio book before seeing the movie "Oppenheimer".
3 people found this helpful
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Les West
2.0 out of 5 stars A book yearning for an editor!
Reviewed in Australia on 17 August 2023
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The story of Robert Oppenheimer is important and fascinating. This book could have easily been my most highly rated read of the year, but it desperately needs an editor to pull it into shape. It is at least twice as long as it should be. It seems to want to include everything Oppie ever said and everything ever said about him all thrown together in random order. In a single paragraph the narrative often jumps backwards and forwards by decades, with no apparent reason. I am patiently wading through it because the story needs to be told, but I could not recommend it unless it is rewritten in a much better shape.
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Frank G. Splitt
5.0 out of 5 stars J. Robert Oppenheimer: The Quintessential Renaissance Man
Reviewed in the United States on 12 August 2023
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J. Robert Oppenheimer: The Quintessential Renaissance Man
This review of Kai Bird‘s, and Martin Sherwin’s American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer, comes many years after the 2005 publication of this Pulitzer Prize winning book. It was prompted by a friend’s positive comments about “Oppenheimer,” the three-hour motion picture inspired by the book. My interest in the man was thus piqued.
Consequently, I ordered the 26-plus hour Audible narration by Jeff Cummings and then purchased a copy of the book as well— worthwhile investments, to say the very least. Here’s why:
The book is at once a definitive, amply illustrated and referenced biography, as well as a corresponding nuanced history of a critical time when the world was introduced to the atomic age.
I was impressed by the ability of the authors to illuminate Oppenheimer’s extraordinarily complex personality, the roots of his deep regard for issues surrounding social-justice, his exceptionally brilliant mind re: quantum physics, and the behavior of a unique and amazing polymathic human being.
Although subjected to cruel and unusual emotional punishment by the reigning powers of the American government in the mid-1950s, he was afforded a modicum of political reparation via President John F. Kennedy’s early 1963 announcement that he intended to present him with the prestigious Enrico Fermi Prize and medal for public service.
After Oppenheimer’s death he was remembered by The London Times as the quintessential Renaissance man. Senator James W. Fulbright had this to say in a speech on the Senate floor: “Let us remember not only what his special genius did for us, let us also remember what we did to him.” This book helps the reader remember it all.
7 people found this helpful
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M Clark
5.0 out of 5 stars A remarkable biography that grabs you from the first page
Reviewed in Germany on 21 August 2023
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This is a remarkable biography. It grabs you from the first page to the last one. In addition to telling the story of Robert Oppenheimer and the development of the atomic bomb, it dives into the issues of thermonuclear war, the anti-communist fanaticism of the McCarthy era, and the abuse of power by Hoover and his FBI. The smear campaign against Oppenheimer in 1954 infects the reader with a feeling of paranoia.
The smear campaign against Oppenheimer continues today with a recent article in Commentary magazine declaring the Oppenheimer really was a communist. The article in Commentary is not at all persuasive The book American Prometheus, however, provides convincing arguments for way this is not true.
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Roman Armenta
5.0 out of 5 stars The Meat & Potatoes & Fruit and Greens of one Omnivorous Intellect
Reviewed in the United States on 25 August 2023
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If you are looking for an authoritative, comprehensive, and crystal-clear bio on this complicated mastermind look no further. This is the book that inspired Christopher Nolan's recent film of critical-acclaim, and
you can't imagine how much more complexity there is to appreciate in Opp's character and story that warrants all 600 pages. There are merely Easter-Egg lines in the film that reference this biography's thorough research on Opp's fervor for Spiritual, Linguistic, Psychological, etc. study.
Lewis Strauss's character assassination strategies for Opp are declassified, citing many government documents and it makes the Robert Downey Jr. version's hands look squeaky clean. However, one of the most impressive elements that stood out to me amidst all these elaborate details was the author's ability to make me, a humanities major, easily grasp concepts in theoretical physics! Read this if you loved the movie and are thirsting for more, or if you are like me, and love to learn about top minds in any field and relish all the wisdom.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful biographical work
Reviewed in the United States on 14 August 2023
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I loved this book! I had only the barest knowledge of Oppenheimer, and that was from his work as a physicist. I had no knowledge of his personal life, nor his political life. I knew nothing of what was done to him. Although American Prometheus is quite long, it is a very absorbing biography. I found it difficult to put down, and over the course of the past week, it has cost me several hours of sleep. I often wondered how any scientist could have been involved in the creation of the atomic bomb, but from reading this book, I can understand the rationale behind it. It’s use, however, was a political expediency, and unnecessary, if the evidence suggested in American Prometheus is accurate. It’s hard to reconcile the scientist who was instrumental in the creation of this weapon with the man who had no responsibility for its use. I admire Oppenheimer because of his persistence in speaking out against the production of the hydrogen bomb, even though his outspokenness was part of what led to his ultimate political downfall. I must admit to having ambivalent feelings about his early political connections in many ways, but ultimately I do feel he was loyal to our country. In some ways, a triumphant life, but in others, quite a sad one. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the history of the atomic bomb, as well as the life of Robert Oppenheimer.
26 people found this helpful
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tridentine
5.0 out of 5 stars A lesson to be learned
Reviewed in the United States on 20 August 2023
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Many things can be gleaned from this outstanding work.
First, there are many threats to the freedoms we enjoy in this country, the greatest on earth. Sadly, some are internal.
At the top of the list well might be the FBI.
This book clearly shows that abuses by that agency are long standing. What the FBI, with the help of other public entities and persons, did to Robert Oppenheimer is nothing short of a disgrace. After destroying Oppenheimer, they moved on to others, including, but not limited to MLK. Those who today defend these agencies should readily realize they well could be next.
Why was Oppenheimer targeted? His heritage, his often being the smartest person in any room, his sometimes prickly personality, his regrets as to what he created, etc. Yes, yes, yes, yes.
A great lesson can be learned here, beware, beware, beware, be very aware.
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EP
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent condition & ahead of schedule
Reviewed in Japan on 19 August 2023
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I just got the book, which is huge, and have not read it yet,
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American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer
Contents
CONTENTS
Preface
Prologue
PART ONE
1. “He Received Every New Idea as Perfectly Beautiful”
2. “His Separate Prison”
3. “I Am Having a Pretty Bad Time”
4. “I Find the Work Hard, Thank God, & Almost Pleasant”
5. “I Am Oppenheimer”
6. “Oppie”
7. “The Nim Nim Boys”
PART TWO
8. “In 1936 My Interests Began to Change”
9. “[Frank] Clipped It Out and Sent It In”
10. “More and More Surely”
11. “I’m Going to Marry a Friend of Yours, Steve”
12. “We Were Pulling the New Deal to the Left”
13. “The Coordinator of Rapid Rupture”
14. “The Chevalier Affair”
PART THREE
15. “He’d Become Very Patriotic”
16. “Too Much Secrecy”
17. “Oppenheimer Is Telling the Truth”
18. “Suicide, Motive Unknown”
19. “Would You Like to Adopt Her?”
20. “Bohr Was God, and Oppie Was His Prophet”
21. “The Impact of the Gadget on Civilization”
22. “Now We’re All Sons–of–Bitches”
PART FOUR
23. “Those Poor Little People”
24. “I Feel I Have Blood on My Hands”
25. “People Could Destroy New York”
26. “Oppie Had a Rash and Is Now Immune”
27. “An Intellectual Hotel”
28. “He Couldn’t Understand Why He Did It”
29. “I Am Sure That Is Why She Threw Things at Him”
30. “He Never Let On What His Opinion Was”
31. “Dark Words About Oppie”
32. “Scientist X”
33. “The Beast in the Jungle”
PART FIVE
34. “It Looks Pretty Bad, Doesn’t It?”
35. “I Fear That This Whole Thing Is a Piece of Idiocy”
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