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Atomic: The First War of Physics and the Secret History of the Atom Bomb 1939-49
 
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Atomic: The First War of Physics and the Secret History of the Atom Bomb 1939-49 (Hardcover)

by Jim Baggott (Author)
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
RRP: £20.00
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Product details

  • Hardcover: 576 pages
  • Publisher: Icon Books Ltd; First Editon edition (5 Mar 2009)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1848310447
  • ISBN-13: 978-1848310445
  • Product Dimensions: 24.6 x 15.6 x 6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 157,253 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #12 in  Books > History > World History > World War II 1939-1945 > Weapons > Atom Bomb

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Product Description

Review

I never read such a good, comprehensive account as Jim Baggott's... Highly recommended.' --A.N. Wilson in the Reader's Digest

Review

The best popular science book of the year to date by far (April 2009), this is an epic journey through the development of atomic power and the atom bomb during the second world war.
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Customer Reviews

7 Reviews
5 star:
 (4)
4 star:
 (3)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
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Average Customer Review
4.6 out of 5 stars (7 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
10 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive and readable. A job very well done., 14 April 2009
By M. Lewchenko (UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This book exceeded my expectations. I was expecting the book to be difficult to get into, and dry due to the subject matter (despite being about the atomic bomb).

However, it was very readable, with excellent footnotes on many pages to explain certain elements further (often revealing after the event information to bolster the story).

The author has a way with words which allow him to tell factual events like a story in very well managed sections. They dont last forever, and the author will break up a story if needs be and return to it later.

I cannot comment on how factually accurate it is, but I believe it is well researched, and the author will actually point out if something he is writing about appears 'lost to history'

Its a big book, and good value for money. Anybody with an interest in war history or science will love this book. I thought I knew the history of atomic weapons quite well, but I learnt a lot from this book.

Any improvements... well the only one I can think of is that it becomes easy to lose track of the many characters you are introduced to (and there are lots). A double page spread of all of them with details of which side they were on and their role would help a bit. This is a minor criticism though, as I do think this is the best book on atomic history that Ive read.

*** edited - this section is actually at the back of the book. I didnt notice it until afterwards.

Just to provide a summary, the history of the atomic bomb, from the discovery of U235 fission through to the 1949 is covered in great detail. It covers participation from all countries, with a lot of detail about the US/Germany/UK/Russia involvement.

Spoiler :

Its amazing to think that we only got the bomb as quick as we did because we BELIEVED that Germany would acquire it before us unless we worked faster and harder, and that spies in the programme readily gave secrets to Russia to ensure they had the bomb after the war was over to ensure no one country had access to such unlimited warfare capabilities.

This book makes the above very readable. Sometimes you cant get better than fact for a good story.


Highly Recommended.

The only reason this book is a 4* and not a 5 is because I think the author covered 1960 to 2009 very quickly. Too quickly in fact. I know the book was 1939 to 1949.. but then why mention the 1960's stuff at all ? And the summary of the current status quo in 2008/9 seemed a bit brief in comparison. Anyways... a fantastic book.

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1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Too much detail suffers because of this, 2 Jun 2009
By Anthony Murphy "feral cat" (Hull, England) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Baggot has written a large book covering the British,the American and the Russian effort to build the atomic bomb.For any beginner in this area who intends to follow-up by reading The Making of The Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes the errors in Baggott's book will soon be put in proper perspective. But they remain a problem. It is not true that MI5 and MI6 knew little about Klaus Fuchs they had a mountain of evidence against him.
It is still little known how much he gave to the Russians but safe to say that under Oppenheimer he became the Editor of the 25 Volume technical history of the bomb and thereby 'broke' compartmetalisation in the Manhattan Programme.The information he gave the Russians was gold.
All in all there are too many mistakes in this book but it is a massive and informative overview which most readers will enjoy.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Book. Atomic - The first war of physics by Jim Baggott, 2 Dec 2009
By J. Puzey (UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
It was an excellent book. I have read several books about the atomic bomb project. Some of them were very good but none were as complete as this one. The research about the spying must have been very extensive. Some of the other books were more detailed about the technical side of the atomic bomb project itself. On the other hand they were weaker on the subject of spying. The book by Jim Baggott was an absolute bargain.
John Puzey
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