Dark Sun

The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb

De: Richard Rhodes

Narrado por: Richard Rhodes

The author of The Making of the Atomic Bomb lays bare the secret heart of the Cold War.

Richard Rhodes' landmark history of the atomic bomb won the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award and the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award. Now, in this majestic new masterpiece of history, science, and politics, he tells for the first time the secret story of how and why the hydrogen bomb was made, and traces the path by which this supreme artifact of 20th-century technology became the defining issue of the Cold War.

From the day in 1941 when the first word of Anglo-American atomic-bomb research arrived in Moscow to the week of the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, DARK SUN is full of unexpected -- and sometimes hair-raising -- revelations based on previously undisclosed Soviet and U.S. sources, including:

• How the Soviets were able to produce a carbon copy of the first U.S. atomic bomb
• How the SAC fought for independent control of U.S. nuclear weapons -- while flying deliberately provocative daytime missions over Soviet cities
• How the first and only direct nuclear confrontation between the superpowers was also very nearly the last

Following the lives of the atomic scientists on both sides of the Iron Curtain, Dark Sun is the definitive work on the hydrogen bomb, showing why the world wars that devastated the first half of the century can never happen again.

©1996 Richard Rhodes (P)2004 Simon & Schuster

Abridged

It would have been nice to have the full unabridged text. Otherwuse excellent. Thank you as always, Mr. Rhodes, for your impressive work.

Rich in National Security and Foreign Affairs

Historically and technically a tour de force. Provides an exceptional story of details, options and opinions present at the creation of our current/modern national and international security environment.

eh

it was ok. but it never really gave the level of detail that made the first book so overwhelmingly good.

Abridged

I Did not realize the book had been abridged. Would have preferred the whole story.

Read Twice, Listened Twice

What did you love best about Dark Sun?

The combination of deep insight into the people plus the large-scale history including some extremely important things which no one talks about.

What other book might you compare Dark Sun to and why?

Rhodes' other book The Making of the Atomic Bomb.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

Rhodes is not the best narrator. I've seen him in videos on this topic and he's a bit more interesting, but audio only... could be better. Sorry but he should stick to writing. I like him, don't get me wrong...

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No

Any additional comments?

You will not believe what the US did (and allowed) in the name of Lend Lease. Read it to find out!

Still worth it

Yes it's abridged and I wish audible had the full version. I also wish a good reader (maybe Scott Brick?) performed it. Nevertheless - it's a good story with good general coverage of how the nuclear arms race happened. Good quick sketches of Teller, Oppenheimer, and Lemay, Locations from Los Alamos to Siberia to Bikini. At the very least it can point you towards other things you might want to read about. Overall a rewarding listen and worth a credit despite obvious shortcomings.

Great story and narration.

I’ve seen Edward Teller interviewed as an old man but never knew the Star Wars connection in Reagan’s administration. A great read.

Brilliant and Chilling

I grew up in Merced, California, near Castle Air Force Base, which happened to be the first Strategic Air Command Base to get the B-52. The Cold War and its potential to turn as hot as the sun was the background to everything. Dark Sun took me back to those years, and it was not a pleasant stroll down memory lane. I had no clue that we came as close to nuclear war as we did—and at numerous times, not just during the Cuban Missile Crisis. And now the specter of nuclear war is rearing its head again… I had hoped we were done with that sort of dread.

This is an excellent and sobering book that is worth your time. I just wish Audible had the full version available rather than just this abridgment.

A political thriller

It explains quite a bit about how the arms race, detente, and MAD came to define international relations. Many of our current politicians would be well advised to read it.

explosive content

a master teacher is always enthusiastic!
and here you learn a lesson not cheaply forgotten !