Bomb The race to build--and steal--the world's most dangerous weapon

Review by New York Times Review

EARLIER this year, a British publisher told me something that made me especially proud to write nonfiction. Nowhere else in the world, he said, is nonfiction for young people written as it is in the United States, where authors often select their own subjects rather than have them handed down by a publisher; find their own images rather than farm the job out to a photo researcher; and work closely with designers to lay out each page. He is right: American nonfiction for children and teenage readers is often a labor of love. Two new books about war, Steve Sheinkin's "Bomb" and Doreen Rappaport's "Beyond Courage," offer particular excellence - vivid writing and original research inspired by personal passion - in a field that all too often is invisible. Sheinkin won many fans last year with the award-winning "Notorious Benedict Arnold." From the eye-catching first chapter, he told a dynamic story, offering a style reminiscent of the beloved Landmark history series. "Bomb" follows a similar structure - with a dramatic opening, as the atom spy Harry Gold races ahead of the F.B.I, pounding at his door - into an ever-widening circle of atomic experiment, threat, test, world war and cold war, crosscutting from eccentric scientists in Los Alamos to deathdefying partisans in Norway, and from top secret physics to the tradecraft of Soviet spies. Sheinkin has an architect's sense of form: how much to say here, when to jump there, and how cantilevered parts work together to create a deft and seemingly effortless whole. His tale is a lively one, peppered with arresting first-person quotations, and it never takes too long to immerse readers in what he calls, with considerable understatement, "a big story." This is pulse-pounding history for Alex Rider fans. Because Sheinkin is so good, I couldn't help wishing for more. At times, especially when dashing through a précis of background events, he settles for rushed and anachronistic language: J. Robert Oppenheimer, who "lucked into" a crucial moment in physics; Nazis "tossing" opponents into concentration camps and "kicking" Jews out of jobs. Doubtless this offhand tone will appeal to some readers, but I find it more sloppy than welcoming. Sheinkin also blurs some facts - for example, the Soviets stopped Hitler in the rubble of Stalingrad, not "just short" of the city; and he is uninterested in the cut and thrust of historical interpretation. He cites sources for individual quotations, but never alerts us to historical debates or competing views - which is especially disappointing since new common core educational standards adopted by 46 states encourage readers to look for the juxtaposition of historical points of view. Still, vivid writing, a terrific sense of form, a riveting and important story, apt illustration - that's quite a lot to get into one book, and Sheinkin succeeds. He also opens the door for adults to guide young readers to other books that may help shade historical controversies. "BEYOND COURAGE" offers a different species of excellence. Rappaport, who has a long history of writing books for younger readers about justice and injustice in such arenas as the civil rights movement and women's history, has written the kind of narrative that can change readers' perceptions; her commitment to recovering stories of Jewish resistance during the Holocaust is not only powerful but also historically significant By gathering and carefully organizing accounts from throughout the Nazi era, she is able to relate the entire tragedy and at the same time to challenge us to see it anew: instead of the inexorable slide into death, we witness the choice to fight. At each beat of the familiar story of extermination, she finds examples of almost inconceivable courage, and actual success in resisting the Nazis. For some, this came in flight, as with the Bielski brothers and their community hidden in the Belarussian forests; for others, in combat, as in the Warsaw ghetto; and for yet others, in the assertion of belief and identity, as with the drawings made by the children in Theresienstadt. Rappaport's devotion to uncovering these instances, whether issuing from academic papers, museums, interviews or memoirs, and her care with narrative structure, locating the rare archival images and using them generously throughout, is truly magnificent. On each page you sense that it meant everything to her to track down the truth and get it exactly right. As she says in her introduction, "These people and their stories are a seed inside me that keeps growing." How much did these resisters actually accomplish? One answer is, their survival: Rappaport includes many contemporary photographs of resisters gathered in their kibbutzim or participating in reunions, while the Nazi Reich lives on only in history books. But as I read it, this book is not about these victories. Rather, its importance lies in bringing us into those moments of agonizing personal choices under impossible conditions, for example when Walter Süskind of the Jewish Council in Amsterdam realizes that he cannot protect Jewish adults, but that "he might save children" and so creates an elaborate system that fools Nazi guards at a day care center, ultimately bringing 385 children to safety. Rappaport's attention to decisions like this is the reason her book belongs in every library and home where we ask young people to learn about historical change, where it should stand with books like Elizabeth Partridge's "Marching for Freedom," Ann Bausum's "Freedom Riders," Phillip Hoose's "Claudette Colvin," Jacob Boas's "We Are Witnesses" and even Peter Godwin's adult memoir "Mukiwa" - all stories of choice in the face of crisis: the choice to maintain hope, the choice to compromise, the choice to resist. The line-by-line writing and the recounting of individual incidents in "Beyond Courage" lack the sizzle of "Bomb." Though it feels churlish to point out, it's fair to say that the many modest declarative sentences like "The extra rations did not stave off hunger" diminish the reader's engagement. And both authors might usefully have listed related books for the same age group, perhaps Edward T. Sullivan's "Ultimate Weapon: The Race to Develop the Atomic Bomb," or selected diaries and testimonies by Holocaust survivors. But these are two very fine books, one characterized by its engaging pace, the other by the subject's historical weight and the author's passion, both excellent examples of the kind of handcrafted nonfiction available to young readers today. A child laborer in the Kovno ghetto in Lithuania; from "Beyond Courage. "Marc Aronson is a co-author, with Lee Berger, of "The Skull in the Rock: How a Scientist, a Boy, and Google Earth Opened a New Window on Human Origins."

Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [November 11, 2012]

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Review by Booklist Review

Using some of the same narrative techniques he used in the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction-winning The Notorious Benedict Arnold (2010), Sheinkin shapes the story of the Manhattan Project into a dense, complicated thriller that intercuts the action with the deftness of a Hollywood blockbuster. There are more characters than readers will be able to handle, but they'll follow the three main threads. The first is a tale of spy versus spy, as Soviet informants infiltrate America's Los Alamos laboratory. The second tracks the heroism of Knut Haukelid as he parachutes into Norway to destroy Germany's heavy water plant. Most amazing is Robert Oppenheimer's assemblage of the greatest scientific minds in the U.S. (aka the world's largest collection of crackpots ), who under great duress design the most lethal weapon in history. Sheinkin's prose understandably favors plot machinations over character, and positioning photos in the back matter feels anticlimactic. Nonetheless, the painstakingly sourced narrative crackles and drives home the strange mix of pride and horror felt by the scientists who had just won the war but lost something of equal worth.--Kraus, Daniel Copyright 2010 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.

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Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

In his highly readable storytelling style, Sheinkin (The Notorious Benedict Arnold) weaves together tales of scientific and technological discovery, back-alley espionage, and wartime sabotage in a riveting account of the race to build the first atomic weapon. The famous (Robert Oppenheimer) and infamous (spy Harry Gold) headline an enormous cast of characters, which also includes Norwegian resistance fighter Knut Haukelid, whose secret wartime missions prevented Hitler from acquiring an atom bomb. B&w portraits of key players appear in photo- montages that begin each of the book's four sections. Sheinkin pulls from numerous sources to supply every chapter with quotations that swiftly move the narrative forward. Suspenseful play-by-play moments will captivate, from the nuclear chain reaction test at the University of Chicago to the preparations for and dropping of the first bomb over Hiroshima. In a "genie out of the bottle" epilogue, details of the Cold War's escalating arms race and present-day weapons counts will give readers pause, especially Sheinkin's final thoughts: "It's a story with no end in sight. And, like it or not, you're in it." A must-read for students of history and science. Ages 10-up. (Sept.) ? (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

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Review by School Library Journal Review

Gr 5 Up-"Harry Gold was right: This is a big story." So begins this depiction of the "creation-and theft-of the deadliest weapon ever invented." As he did in The Notorious Benedict Arnold (Roaring Brook, 2010), Sheinkin has again brought his superior talent for storytelling to bear in what is truly a gripping account of discovery, espionage, and revolutionary changes in both physics and the modern world. This fascinating tale, packed with a wide cast of characters, focuses mainly on three individuals: spy for the Soviets Harry Gold, leader of the Manhattan Project J. Robert Oppenheimer, and Knut Haukelid, who sabotaged German bomb efforts while working for the Norwegian resistance. Sheinkin skillfully combines lucid, conversational snapshots of the science behind the atomic bomb with a fast-paced narrative of the remarkable people who made it possible and attempted to steal it. Handsomely designed and loaded with archival photos and primary-source documents, the accessible volume lays out how the bomb was envisioned and brought to fruition. While the historical information and hard facts presented here will likely be new to the intended audience, they in no way overwhelm readers or detract from the thoroughly researched, well-documented account. It reads like an international spy thriller, and that's the beauty of it.-Brian Odom, Pelham Public Library, AL (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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Review by Horn Book Review

While comprehensive in his synthesis of the political, historical, and scientific aspects of the creation of the first nuclear weapon, Sheinkin focuses his account with an extremely alluring angle: the spies. The book opens in 1950 with the confession of Harry Gold -- but to what? And thus we flash back to Robert Oppenheimer in the dark 1930s, as he and readers are handed another question by the author: But how was a theoretical physicist supposed to save the world? Oppenheimers realization that an atomic bomb could be created to use against Nazi Germany is coupled with the knowledge that the Germans must be working from the same premise, and the Soviets are close behind. We periodically return to Golds ever-deepening betrayals as well as other acts of espionage, most excitingly the two stealth attacks on occupied Norways Vemork power plant, where the Germans were manufacturing heavy water to use in their own nuclear program. As he did in the 2011 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award winner The Notorious Benedict Arnold (rev. 1/11), Sheinkin here maintains the pace of a thriller without betraying history (source notes and an annotated bibliography are exemplary) or skipping over the science; photo galleries introducing each section help readers organize the events and players. Writing with journalistic immediacy, the author eschews editorializing up through the chilling last lines: Its a story with no end in sight. And, like it or not, youre in it. Index. roger sutton (c) Copyright 2012. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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Review by Kirkus Book Review

In late December 1938, German chemist Otto Hahn discovered that uranium atoms could be split, and just a few months later the race to build an atomic bomb was on. The story unfolds in three parts, covering American attempts to build the bomb, how the Soviets tried to steal American designs and how the Americans tried to keep the Germans from building a bomb. It was the eve of World War II, and the fate of the world was at stake, "[b]ut how was a theoretical physicist supposed to save the world?" It's a true spy thriller, ranging from the football stadium at the University of Chicago to the mountains of Norway, from the deserts of New Mexico to laboratories in East Tennessee, and all along the way spies in the United States were feeding sensitive information to the KGB. Groups of photographs are sprinkled throughout the volume, offering just enough visual support for the splendid character development in the writing, and thorough documentation is provided in the backmatter. It takes a lot of work to make a complicated subject clear and exciting, and from his prodigious research and storytelling skill, Sheinkin has created a nonfiction story young people will want to read. A superb tale of an era and an effort that forever changed our world. (source notes, quotation notes, acknowledgments, photo credits, index) (Nonfiction. 10 up)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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SKINNY SUPERHERO HARRY GOLD WAS RIGHT: This is a big story. It's the story of the creation--and theft--of the deadliest weapon ever invented. The scenes speed around the world, from secret labs to commando raids to street-corner spy meetings. But like most big stories, this one starts small. Let's pick up the action sixteen years before FBI agents cornered Harry Gold in Philadelphia. Let's start 3,000 miles to the west, in Berkeley, California, on a chilly night in February 1934. On a hill high above town, a man and woman sat in a parked car. In the driver's seat was a very thin young physics professor named Robert Oppenheimer. Beside him sat his date, a graduate student named Melba Phillips. The two looked out at the view of San Francisco Bay. It was a fine view, but Oppenheimer couldn't seem to stay focused on the date. He turned to Phillips and asked, "Are you comfortable?" She said she was. "Mind if I get out and walk for a few minutes?" She didn't mind. Oppenheimer got out and strolled into the darkness. Phillips wrapped a coat around her legs and waited. She waited a long time. At some point, she fell asleep. She woke up in the middle of the night--the seat beside her was still empty. Worried, she stepped onto the road and waved down a passing police car. "My escort went for a walk hours ago and he hasn't returned," she told the cop. The police searched the park, but found nothing. They notified headquarters, and a wider search was begun. An officer drove to Oppenheimer's apartment to look for useful clues. He found the professor in bed, sound asleep. The cop shook Oppenheimer awake and demanded an explanation. Oppenheimer said he'd gotten out of the car to think about physics. "I just walked and walked," he said, "and I was home and I went to bed. I'm so sorry." A reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle got hold of the story and wrote an article with the headline: "Forgetful Prof Parks Girl, Takes Self Home." No one who knew Robert Oppenheimer was the least bit surprised. * * * HE'D ALWAYS BEEN DIFFERENT. A girl who knew Robert as a child in New York City described him as "very frail, very pink-cheeked, very shy, and very brilliant." Oppenheimer was a tougher critic. "A repulsively good little boy," he said of himself. "My life as a child did not prepare me for the fact that the world is full of cruel and bitter things." He was constantly getting sick, so his nervous parents tried to protect him by keeping him inside. While other boys played in the street, Robert sat alone in his room studying languages, devouring books of literature and science, and filling notebooks with poetry. Around kids his age he was awkward and quiet, never knowing what to say unless he could bring the conversation around to books. Then he would let loose annoying bursts of learning. "Ask me a question in Latin," he'd say, "and I'll answer you in Greek." Hoping to toughen up their stick-skinny fourteen-year-old, Robert's parents sent him to a sports summer camp. But he was an awful athlete and simply refused to participate. Then the other campers found out he wrote home every day, and that he liked poetry and looking for minerals. That's when they started calling him "Cutie." Robert never fought back. He never even responded. That made his tormentors even angrier. One night, after dinner, Robert went for a walk. A group of boys waited for him in the woods. They grabbed him, dragged him to the icehouse, and tossed him on the rough wood floor. They ripped off his shirt and pants, dipped a brush in green paint, and slapped the dripping bristles against his bony body. Robert never said a word about the attack to camp counselors. "I don't know how Robert stuck out those remaining weeks," his only friend at camp later said. "Not many boys would have--or could have--but Robert did. It must have been hell for him." Science saved him. Robert dove deep into chemistry and physics in high school, graduated from Harvard University in 1925, then earned advanced degrees at top universities in Britain and Germany. Even in classes with some of the brightest students in the world, "Oppie," as friends called him, never lost his know-it-all style. He interrupted physics lectures with his own theories, sometimes charging to the chalkboard, grabbing the chalk and declaring. "This can be done much better in the following manner." Classmates got so annoyed they actually signed a petition asking him to allow others to speak in class. After that, Oppenheimer calmed down. A little bit. "The trouble," a friend said, "is that Oppie is so quick on the trigger intellectually, that he puts the other guy at a disadvantage." He'd lucked into a thrilling time in theoretical physics. Physicists were just beginning to figure out what atoms look like, and how the tiny particles inside them move and affect each other. Theoretical physicists were the explorers of their day, using imagination and mind-bending math to dig deeper and deeper into the surprising inner workings of atoms. Oppenheimer knew he'd found his calling. When he returned to the States, schools all over the country tried to hire him. He picked the University of California, in Berkeley, where he quickly built the country's best theoretical physics program. Students who came to study with Oppenheimer quickly realized they were in for a wild ride. "When you took a question to him," one student remembered, "he would spend hours--until midnight perhaps--exploring every angle with you." "He generally would answer patiently," another student agreed, "unless the question was manifestly stupid, in which event his response was likely to be quite caustic." While sitting in on other professors' lectures, Oppenheimer was known to squirm impatiently. "Oh, come now!" he'd call out. "We all know that. Let's get on with it!" Oppenheimer's own lectures, according to a student named Edward Gerjuoy, were lightning bursts of ideas, theories, and math on the blackboard. "He spoke quite rapidly, and puffed equally rapidly," Gerjuoy said. "When one cigarette burned down to a fragment he no longer could hold, he lit another." Oppenheimer paced as he lectured, his wiry black hair sticking straight up, his large blue eyes flashing, as he furiously wrote, erased, wrote more, talked, puffed, and bobbed in and out of a cloud of white smoke. During one lecture, he told students to think about a formula he'd written. There were dozens scrawled all over the board, and a student cut in to ask which formula he was talking about. "Not that one," Oppenheimer said, pointing to the blackboard, "the one underneath." There was no formula below that one, the student pointed out. "Not below, underneath ," snapped Oppenheimer. "I have written over it." As one of Oppenheimer's students put it: "Everyone sort of regarded him, very affectionately, as being sort of nuts." * * * "I NEED PHYSICS MORE THAN FRIENDS," Oppenheimer once told his younger brother. Lost in his studies, Oppenheimer paid little attention to the outside world. He didn't hear about the stock market crash that triggered the Great Depression until six months after it happened. He first voted in a presidential election in 1936, at the age of thirty-two. "Beginning in late 1936, my interests began to change," he later said. There were a few reasons. For one thing, the country's ongoing economic troubles began to hit home. "I saw what the Depression was doing to my students. Often they could get no jobs," he said. "And through them, I began to understand how deeply political and economic events could affect men's lives. I began to feel the need to participate more fully in the life of the community." Oppenheimer started going to political meetings and discussion groups. He began giving money to support causes like labor unions and striking farm workers. But it wasn't only events in the United States that caught Oppenheimer's attention--he was also alarmed by the violent rise of Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party in Germany. Hitler took over as chancellor of Germany in 1933 and started arresting political opponents and tossing them into concentration camps. With complete control of the country in his hands, Hitler began persecuting German Jews, stripping them of their legal rights, kicking them out of universities and government jobs. Oppenheimer, who was Jewish, still had family in Germany, as well as Jewish friends from his student days. When he heard that Hitler was harassing Jewish physicists, Oppenheimer dedicated a portion of his salary to help them escape Nazi Germany. At the same time, the German dictator built up a huge military and started hacking out what he called a "Greater Germany," a massive European empire that Hitler insisted rightfully belonged to Germans. He annexed neighboring Austria in 1938, then demanded a huge region of Czechoslovakia. Britain and France were strong enough to stand in Hitler's way--but they caved in to his threats, hoping to preserve peace in Europe. "This is my last territorial demand in Europe," Hitler promised. A few months later, he sent German troops into the rest of Czechoslovakia. Just twenty years after the end of World War I, it looked like a second world war was about to explode. Oppenheimer followed these terrifying events from his home in California, burning with what he described as "a continuing, smoldering fury" toward Adolf Hitler. But how was a theoretical physicist supposed to save the world? Copyright © 2012 by Steve Sheinkin Excerpted from Bomb: The Race to Build -- and Steal -- the World's Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

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