The General and the Genius: Groves and Oppenheimer - The Unlikely Partnership that Built the Atom Bomb

This book is a very well balanced, well written account of how the first atomic bombs were designed and built with a particular focus on the relationship between the two principal leaders of the process. The balance comes in several ways. It provides enough technical detail about the physics and engineering of the bomb to enable the reader to understand the nature and complexity of the issues faced by the leaders, but it does so without getting bogged down in unnecessary minutia. It balances information and stories across many areas - technical, strategic, political, military, academic, personal, and logistical - to provide a very complete picture of the overall effort and the relationship between Groves and Oppenheimer. And, it tells the story in a compelling and authentic fashion which keeps the reader fully engaged throughout, but without ever straying anywhere close to hyperbole or sensationalism. Bottom line: this is a great read about one of the most amazing chapters in American and World history. Highly recommended.

It is amazing that a single volume can cover so many aspects of the development of the atomic bomb. The physics and engineering are described in a way that is accessible to the lay person but also provides the details that make it a good reference for deeper research or later recall. It includes a study of how best to manage a team of super creative people and keep the project moving forward to a serious deadline. It allows the reader to peer into the day-to-day life of both the project members and their families as they built a town and a community in parallel with “the gadget.” And it inspires a very deep new respect for what all of the people involved went through for their country along with an envy of the state-of-the-art science in which they were privileged to participate. I intend to revisit this book every couple of years because I know I will continue to discover new insights with each reading.

Interesting book that centered on the two main personalities of the Manhattan project. Not as detailed and technical as that of the Rhoades books but still worth a read. I did come away with some insight though on why Groves tolerated the spy links that he had some heads up on that were occurring and that of Oppenheimer's leftist leanings. That being that Groves viewed the project to build the bomb as an engineering exercise that had to be accomplished. The left leaning sympathies were ignored or discounted in the push to get the project completed. Kunetka does a good job in relating how Groves managed the emotional roller coaster of Oppenheimer and the vast management requirements to complete the project. Worth a read for those interested in the history of the bomb.

I didn't think I would find much new material in this book, but it is good and well-written. My father was stationed in another branch at the university in Chicago where the early parts of the Manhattan Project were being carried out. And he and Mother had an apartment near many members of their team, and often partied with some of them. He and mother had both told me that the Manhattan Project was the talk of the town and everyone there knew what was going on. He also said when most of them abruptly moved to New Mexico that everyone noticed, and knew that it was ready to be tested, and there was a good chance the war would soon be over. I had always been curious as to why they used the Chicago area as it was a known hotbed of communism, and supposedly Oppenheimer was a communist sympathizer. If I remember correctly that was where the Communist Party, USA, was headquartered.

I just finished this most interesting take on many of the fine points on all that led up to the dropping of Little Boy and Fat Man. The text is clear, crisp, unambiguous and I really feel that I now understand J. Robert Oppenheimer, Leslie R. Groves in a deeper way, not to mention the other geniuses, near-geniuses and so many others who toiled on that remote mesa in New Mexico, at the Trinity site, at Tinian and the B29s during this fascinating period of our history. The tension, at times, was thick enough to cut with a knife. The innumerable difficult decisions regarding the correct technological pathways, logistics, dealing with the inevitable personality clashes and equally valid differences of opinion among and between these giants puts the flesh on the bone in this saga. Groves was a force to reckon with and I believe that it was the alchemy of both of these protagonists in the right place at the right time which performed true nuclear/atomic alchemy which forever has changed the world that we all Iive in now. This book will soon proudly reside next to the Richard Rhodes tomes in my library.

To lovers of the history of science and in particular of the making-of-the- A-bomb saga, Jim Kunetka has given us a Reese's cup, an Oreo cookie, or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Two great stories that - when combined - make something even better. Oppenheimer and Groves were titanic personalities in the "Making Of" drama. Kunetka brings both colorful figures to life and helps us understand the mutual respect, ambition, shared purpose and grit that made their improbable partnership thrive. For anyone interested in Big Science, this volume really defines not only a relationship that literally changed the world, but a pattern of relating that set the template for all successful big science program management efforts (CERN? Apollo 11 ...) that followed. Should be required reading at SpaceX, NASA, Air Force Academy, and elsewhere. Kunetka accomplishes all of this while retaining all of the color and texture of the times, of these towering personalities, and of the cast of notables that make the Rad Lab, Oak Ridge, and Los Alamos stories so compelling.

Excellent read with interesting details about the process of the Manhattan Project but not the physics of building the bomb itself and more about General Groves than other accounts. A genius although in a different way than Oppenheimer. The prose is readable but not memorable. The moral issues are discussed in a balanced way. Reading about Los Alamos culture was interesting and well done.

Truly amazing. A wonderful book dealing with the making of the Atomic Bomb. I love reading about Robert Oppenheimer. This book tells the fascinating story of Robert Oppenheimer and General Groves, "The Unlikely Partnership That Built the Atom Bomb." James Kunetka has created a nonfiction book that reads as smoothly as a well-written novel. The personalities of the characters come to life. The two men form a bond and develop a working relationship which seems to defy all odds. It is one of my favorite books on the making of the atomic bomb second only to American Prometheus, The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer. Even if you think the topic boring, trust me, this book is anything but. Most interesting is foresight of the creators as they come to the realization that the world will be forever changed, and not necessarily for the better by what they have achieved.

Très bon livre, vraiment très intéressant.Après avoir lu la biographie de Robert Hopperhamer

とても読みやすい英文です。楽しんで読んでいます。

I very much enjoyed this book. Having already read several books about Oppenheimer as well as the Manhattan project and coming away with a relatively negative image of major general Groves, it was enlightening to see Kunetkas take on the relationship between the two men and on the positive and negative aspects of their respective personalities. I'd like to correct one minor niggle in the book. In the description of the German nuclear weapon development program during the war, there is a reference to destruction of the heavy water production plant in Norway. Whereas there was indeed a British commando raid mounted to destroy the Rjukan facility (having failed to destroy it by bomber raids), the British raid tragically failed due to crashes of the towed gliders used for insertion and the following killings of survivors by the Germans. It was eventually a small team of Norwegian commandos, trained in England and parachuted into the Rjukan region, that destroyed the heavy water plant as well as the ferry carrying the remaining heavy water product.

A detailed story of a great time and events almost past imagination. Two great archetypes in a fabled creation that both haunts and blesses us to this day. I felt inspired and hopeful that so far we have avoided destruction. The atomic bomb was perhaps a gift to start the end of war.

Found the books was a little dry to read and didn't really shed any new or noteworthy facts regardingg the two main characters - Genius and General.