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Details:
Condition: BRAND NEW
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781838959708
Publisher: Atlantic Books
Overview:
American Prometheus is the Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the brilliant and tormented physicist who led the Manhattan Project. Written by Kai Bird and the late Martin J. Sherwin, this definitive account traces Oppenheimer's rise as "father of the atomic bomb" through to his political downfall during the McCarthy era. Meticulously researched over twenty-five years, it is the book that inspired Christopher Nolan's award-winning film Oppenheimer, and remains essential reading for anyone drawn to twentieth-century history, science and ethics.
About the Book:
American Prometheus charts the extraordinary and contradictory life of J. Robert Oppenheimer, from a precocious, philosophically curious young man to the scientific director who oversaw the creation of the atomic bomb at Los Alamos. Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin draw on decades of archival research, personal letters and interviews to reconstruct the intellectual ferment of the Manhattan Project, the drama of the Trinity test, and the devastating aftermath of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The narrative then turns to Oppenheimer's public humiliation during the 1954 security hearings, when Cold War paranoia and political enemies stripped him of his security clearance and reputation. Bird and Sherwin render this fall from grace with the pace of a thriller and the depth of serious scholarship, exploring Oppenheimer's complicated politics, his personal relationships, and his lifelong wrestling with the moral weight of what he helped unleash. The result is widely regarded as the definitive Oppenheimer biography, its title evoking the myth of Prometheus, who stole fire from the gods. Readers of Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer will find the historical depth behind the film here.
Key Benefits:
- Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Biography, recognised as the definitive account of Oppenheimer's life.
- The book that directly inspired Christopher Nolan's Oscar-winning film Oppenheimer.
- Over two decades of meticulous archival research bring fresh depth to Manhattan Project history.
- A gripping, thriller-paced narrative ideal for history, science and biography lovers alike.
- Explores enduring questions of scientific ethics, power and political persecution.
- Makes a thoughtful gift for readers of history, politics and twentieth-century biography.
About the Author:
Kai Bird is an American author and journalist known for acclaimed biographies exploring twentieth-century politics and power, including works on the Bundy brothers and Jimmy Carter. Martin J. Sherwin, who died in 2021, was a distinguished historian specialising in Cold War and nuclear history, and held professorships at Tufts University and George Mason University. Together, Bird and Sherwin spent over twenty-five years researching Oppenheimer's life, combing through personal archives, FBI files and interviews to produce this Pulitzer Prize-winning work of narrative non-fiction.
Why You'll Love This Biography:
A masterful, deeply human portrait of one of history's most consequential and conflicted figures, blending rigorous scholarship with gripping storytelling that brings twentieth-century science and politics vividly to life.
Please Note: Cover shown is the UK edition; ISBN and format are as listed above.
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