About this item
In 1943, J. Robert Oppenheimer, the brilliant, charismatic head of the Manhattan Project, recruited scientists to live as virtual prisoners of the US government at Los Alamos, a barren mesa thirty-five miles outside Santa Fe, New Mexico.In 1943, J. Robert Oppenheimer, the brilliant, charismatic head of the Manhattan Project, recruited scientists to live as virtual prisoners of the U.S. government at Los Alamos, a barren mesa thirty-five miles outside Santa Fe, New Mexico. Thousands of men, women, and children spent the war years sequestered in this top-secret military facility. They lied to friends and family about where they were going and what they were doing, and then disappeared into the desert. Through the eyes of a young Santa Fe widow who was one of Oppenheimer's first recruits, we see how, for all his flaws, he developed into an inspiring leader and motivated all those involved in the Los Alamos project to make a supreme effort and achieve the unthinkable.
About the Author
Jennet Conant is the author of the New York Times bestsellers Tuxedo Park: A Wall Street Tycoon and the Secret Palace of Science That Changed the Course of World War II;109 East Palace: Robert Oppenheimer and the Secret City of Los Alamos; and The Irregulars: Roald Dahl and the British Spy Ring in Wartime Washington. Her latest book is Man of the Hour: James B. Conant, Warrior Scientist.A former journalist, she has written for Vanity Fair, Esquire, GQ, Newsweek, and The New York Times.
