American Prometheus Synopsis
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 and Martin 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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Kai Bird, Martin J Sherwin Press Reviews
'Quite simply, a giant among biographies.' Robin McKie, Observer
'Reads like a thriller, gripping and terrifying by turns… No more absorbing biography will, I predict, 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 possible sense, blown out of the sky.' Mark Lawson, Esquire
'This is a magisterial biography: a masterpiece that has taken decades to put together.' Kathryn Hughes, Mail on Sunday
About Kai Bird, Martin J Sherwin
A contributing editor at The Nation, Kai Bird is the author of several biographies. He lives in Washington, DC, and Nepal, with his family.
Martin J. Sherwin is Professor of History at George Mason University. He is the author of A World Destroyed: Hiroshima and Its Legacies. He and his wife live in Washington, DC.
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