-
The Apocalypse Factory
- Plutonium and the Making of the Atomic Age
- Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
- Length: 11 hrs and 9 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
The Apocalypse Factory
Buy for $21.49
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Countdown 1945
- The Extraordinary Story of the Atomic Bomb and the 116 Days That Changed the World
- By: Chris Wallace, Mitch Weiss
- Narrated by: Chris Wallace
- Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,203
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,876
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,862
April 12, 1945: After years of bloody conflict in Europe and the Pacific, America is stunned by news of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s death. In an instant, Vice President Harry Truman, who has been kept out of war planning and knows nothing of the top-secret Manhattan Project to develop the world’s first atomic bomb, must assume command of a nation at war on multiple continents—and confront one of the most consequential decisions in history. Countdown 1945 tells the gripping true story of the turbulent days, weeks, and months to follow.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Chris Wallace killed it!
- By Gaming Pancakes on 06-11-20
By: Chris Wallace, and others
-
Nuclear Folly
- A History of the Cuban Missile Crisis
- By: Serhii Plokhy
- Narrated by: Keith Sellon-Wright
- Length: 13 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 84
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 67
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 67
Nearly 30 years after the end of the Cold War, today's world leaders are abandoning disarmament treaties, building up their nuclear arsenals, and exchanging threats of nuclear strikes. To survive this new atomic age, we must relearn the lessons of the most dangerous moment of the Cold War: the Cuban missile crisis. Serhii Plokhy offers an international perspective on the crisis, tracing the tortuous decision-making that produced and then resolved it, which involved John Kennedy and his advisers, Nikita Khrushchev and Fidel Castro, and their commanders on the ground.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Must Read
- By Robert from Brookline on 08-22-21
By: Serhii Plokhy
-
American Prometheus
- The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer
- By: Kai Bird, Martin J. Sherwin
- Narrated by: Jeff Cummings
- Length: 26 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,572
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,669
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,681
J. Robert Oppenheimer was one of the iconic figures of the 20th century, a brilliant physicist who led the effort to build the atomic bomb but later confronted the moral consequences of scientific progress. When he proposed international controls over atomic materials, opposed the development of the hydrogen bomb, and criticized plans for a nuclear war, his ideas were anathema to powerful advocates of a massive nuclear buildup during the anti-Communist hysteria of the early 1950s.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
An American Tragedy
- By Edith on 12-13-07
By: Kai Bird, and others
-
Atoms and Ashes
- A Global History of Nuclear Disasters
- By: Serhii Plokhy
- Narrated by: Leighton Pugh
- Length: 12 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 97
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 86
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 85
Atoms and Ashes recounts the dramatic history of nuclear accidents that have dogged the industry in its military and civil incarnations since the 1950s. Through the stories of six terrifying major incidents—Bikini Atoll, Kyshtym, Windscale, Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima—Cold War expert Serhii Plokhy explores the risks of nuclear power, both for military and peaceful purposes, while offering a vivid account of how individuals and governments make decisions under extraordinary circumstances.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
This was a pretty sensational and biased book.
- By J. Seawright on 06-11-22
By: Serhii Plokhy
-
Restricted Data
- The History of Nuclear Secrecy in the United States
- By: Alex Wellerstein
- Narrated by: John McLain
- Length: 17 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 46
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 40
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 39
Drawing on troves of declassified files, including records released by the government for the first time through the author's efforts, Restricted Data traces the complex evolution of the US nuclear secrecy regime from the first whisper of the atomic bomb through the mounting tensions of the Cold War and into the early 21st century. A compelling history of powerful ideas at war, it tells a story that feels distinctly American: rich, sprawling, and built on the conflict between high-minded idealism and ugly, fearful power.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Alright. Some interesting facts
- By Dustin C. on 07-28-24
By: Alex Wellerstein
-
Dark Sun
- The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb
- By: Richard Rhodes
- Narrated by: Richard Rhodes
- Length: 6 hrs
- Abridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 466
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 396
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 398
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.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Abridged??
- By Delano on 04-17-13
By: Richard Rhodes
-
Countdown 1945
- The Extraordinary Story of the Atomic Bomb and the 116 Days That Changed the World
- By: Chris Wallace, Mitch Weiss
- Narrated by: Chris Wallace
- Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,203
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,876
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,862
April 12, 1945: After years of bloody conflict in Europe and the Pacific, America is stunned by news of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s death. In an instant, Vice President Harry Truman, who has been kept out of war planning and knows nothing of the top-secret Manhattan Project to develop the world’s first atomic bomb, must assume command of a nation at war on multiple continents—and confront one of the most consequential decisions in history. Countdown 1945 tells the gripping true story of the turbulent days, weeks, and months to follow.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Chris Wallace killed it!
- By Gaming Pancakes on 06-11-20
By: Chris Wallace, and others
-
Nuclear Folly
- A History of the Cuban Missile Crisis
- By: Serhii Plokhy
- Narrated by: Keith Sellon-Wright
- Length: 13 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 84
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 67
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 67
Nearly 30 years after the end of the Cold War, today's world leaders are abandoning disarmament treaties, building up their nuclear arsenals, and exchanging threats of nuclear strikes. To survive this new atomic age, we must relearn the lessons of the most dangerous moment of the Cold War: the Cuban missile crisis. Serhii Plokhy offers an international perspective on the crisis, tracing the tortuous decision-making that produced and then resolved it, which involved John Kennedy and his advisers, Nikita Khrushchev and Fidel Castro, and their commanders on the ground.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Must Read
- By Robert from Brookline on 08-22-21
By: Serhii Plokhy
-
American Prometheus
- The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer
- By: Kai Bird, Martin J. Sherwin
- Narrated by: Jeff Cummings
- Length: 26 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,572
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,669
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,681
J. Robert Oppenheimer was one of the iconic figures of the 20th century, a brilliant physicist who led the effort to build the atomic bomb but later confronted the moral consequences of scientific progress. When he proposed international controls over atomic materials, opposed the development of the hydrogen bomb, and criticized plans for a nuclear war, his ideas were anathema to powerful advocates of a massive nuclear buildup during the anti-Communist hysteria of the early 1950s.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
An American Tragedy
- By Edith on 12-13-07
By: Kai Bird, and others
-
Atoms and Ashes
- A Global History of Nuclear Disasters
- By: Serhii Plokhy
- Narrated by: Leighton Pugh
- Length: 12 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 97
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 86
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 85
Atoms and Ashes recounts the dramatic history of nuclear accidents that have dogged the industry in its military and civil incarnations since the 1950s. Through the stories of six terrifying major incidents—Bikini Atoll, Kyshtym, Windscale, Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima—Cold War expert Serhii Plokhy explores the risks of nuclear power, both for military and peaceful purposes, while offering a vivid account of how individuals and governments make decisions under extraordinary circumstances.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
This was a pretty sensational and biased book.
- By J. Seawright on 06-11-22
By: Serhii Plokhy
-
Restricted Data
- The History of Nuclear Secrecy in the United States
- By: Alex Wellerstein
- Narrated by: John McLain
- Length: 17 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 46
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 40
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 39
Drawing on troves of declassified files, including records released by the government for the first time through the author's efforts, Restricted Data traces the complex evolution of the US nuclear secrecy regime from the first whisper of the atomic bomb through the mounting tensions of the Cold War and into the early 21st century. A compelling history of powerful ideas at war, it tells a story that feels distinctly American: rich, sprawling, and built on the conflict between high-minded idealism and ugly, fearful power.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Alright. Some interesting facts
- By Dustin C. on 07-28-24
By: Alex Wellerstein
-
Dark Sun
- The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb
- By: Richard Rhodes
- Narrated by: Richard Rhodes
- Length: 6 hrs
- Abridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 466
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 396
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 398
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.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Abridged??
- By Delano on 04-17-13
By: Richard Rhodes
-
Atomic Accidents
- A History of Nuclear Meltdowns and Disasters; From the Ozark Mountains to Fukushima
- By: James Mahaffey
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 15 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,080
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,884
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,874
From the moment radiation was discovered in the late nineteenth century, nuclear science has had a rich history of innovative scientific exploration and discovery, coupled with mistakes, accidents, and downright disasters.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A NUCLEAR POINT OF VIEW
- By chetyarbrough.blog on 01-05-15
By: James Mahaffey
-
Meltdown
- Nuclear Disaster and the Human Cost of Going Critical
- By: Joel Levy
- Narrated by: Kris Dyer
- Length: 12 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 44
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 38
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 38
From the pioneers of Los Alamos who got up close and personal with the cores of atomic bombs, to the hapless engineers in Soviet fuel-processing plants who unwittingly mixed up a disaster in a bucket, and from the terrifying impact of a tsunami at Fukushima to the mystery of the recent Russian incident, Meltdown explores the past and future of this extraordinary and potentially lethal source of infinite power
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
A less well written version of another book
- By Amazon Customer on 01-10-22
By: Joel Levy
-
Idaho Falls
- The Untold Story of America's First Nuclear Accident
- By: William McKeown
- Narrated by: Bob Dunsworth
- Length: 7 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 350
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 326
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 326
When asked to name the world’s first major nuclear accident, most people cite the Three Mile Island incident or the Chernobyl disaster. Revealed in this book is one of American history’s best-kept secrets: the world’s first nuclear reactor accident to claim fatalities happened on United States soil. Chronicled here for the first time is the strange tale of SL-1, a military test reactor located in Idaho’s Lost River Desert that exploded on the night of January 3, 1961, killing the three-man maintenance crew on duty.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
A Really Good, but Dreadfully Written Book
- By Matthew on 03-08-17
By: William McKeown
-
The Making of the Atomic Bomb
- 25th Anniversary Edition
- By: Richard Rhodes
- Narrated by: Holter Graham
- Length: 37 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,028
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,606
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,584
Here for the first time, in rich human, political, and scientific detail, is the complete story of how the bomb was developed, from the turn-of-the-century discovery of the vast energy locked inside the atom to the dropping of the first bombs on Japan. Few great discoveries have evolved so swiftly - or have been so misunderstood. From the theoretical discussions of nuclear energy to the bright glare of Trinity, there was a span of hardly more than 25 years.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Beware limitations of the reader
- By JFanson on 01-01-19
By: Richard Rhodes
-
The Dead Hand
- The Untold Story of the Cold War Arms Race and its Dangerous Legacy
- By: David E. Hoffman
- Narrated by: Bob Walter
- Length: 20 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,526
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,315
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,304
The Dead Hand is the suspense-filled story of the people who sought to brake the speeding locomotive of the arms race, then rushed to secure the nuclear and biological weapons left behind by the collapse of the Soviet Union—a dangerous legacy that haunts us even today.The Cold War was an epoch of massive overkill.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Eye opening
- By Brian on 11-16-10
By: David E. Hoffman
-
Command and Control
- Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety
- By: Eric Schlosser
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 20 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,143
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,840
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,830
Famed investigative journalist Eric Schlosser digs deep to uncover secrets about the management of America's nuclear arsenal. A groundbreaking account of accidents, near misses, extraordinary heroism, and technological breakthroughs, Command and Control explores the dilemma that has existed since the dawn of the nuclear age: How do you deploy weapons of mass destruction without being destroyed by them? That question has never been resolved - and Schlosser reveals how the combination of human fallibility and technological complexity still poses a grave risk to mankind.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A miracle that we escaped the Cold War alive....
- By A reader on 02-16-14
By: Eric Schlosser
-
The Manhattan Project
- The Making of the Atomic Bomb
- By: Al Cimino
- Narrated by: Eric Meyers
- Length: 5 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 21
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 21
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 20
This book traces the history of the Manhattan Project, from the first glimmerings of the possibility of such a catastrophic weapon to the aftermath of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It profiles the architects of the bomb, including J. Robert Oppenheimer, and how they tried to reconcile their personal feelings with their ambition as scientists. It looks at the role of the politicians and it includes first-hand accounts of those who experienced the effects of the bombings.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Very informative!
- By JavierMiguel78 on 08-08-23
By: Al Cimino
-
Stealth
- The Secret Contest to Invent Invisible Aircraft
- By: Peter Westwick
- Narrated by: David de Vries
- Length: 7 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 109
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 97
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 97
On a moonless night in January 1991, a dozen US aircraft appeared in the skies over Baghdad. To the Iraqi air defenses, the planes seemed to come from nowhere. Each aircraft was more than 60 feet in length and with a wingspan of 40 feet, yet its radar footprint was the size of a ball bearing. Here was the first extensive combat application of Stealth technology. And it was devastating.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Good Overview of the original development
- By Amazon Customer on 08-01-22
By: Peter Westwick
-
Midnight in Chernobyl
- By: Adam Higginbotham
- Narrated by: Jacques Roy
- Length: 13 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 7,711
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 6,754
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 6,715
April 25, 1986 in Chernobyl was a turning point in world history. The disaster not only changed the world’s perception of nuclear power and the science that spawned it, but also our understanding of the planet’s delicate ecology. With the images of the abandoned homes and playgrounds beyond the barbed wire of the 30-kilometer Exclusion Zone, the rusting graveyards of contaminated trucks and helicopters, the farmland lashed with black rain, the event fixed for all time the notion of radiation as an invisible killer.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Midnight in Chernobyl is the book to listen to.
- By NH on 03-21-19
-
The Doomsday Machine
- By: Daniel Ellsberg
- Narrated by: Steven Cooper
- Length: 14 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,027
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 909
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 907
The Doomsday Machine is Ellsberg's hair-raising insider's account of the most dangerous arms buildup in the history of civilization, whose legacy - and renewal under the Obama administration - threatens the very survival of humanity. It is scarcely possible to estimate the true dangers of our present nuclear policies without penetrating the secret realities of the nuclear strategy of the late Eisenhower and early Kennedy years, when Ellsberg had high-level access to them.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fascinating Insider Story
- By Terry Masters on 12-07-17
By: Daniel Ellsberg
-
Atomic Bomb Island
- Tinian, the Last Stage of the Manhattan Project, and the Dropping of the Atomic Bombs on Japan in World War II
- By: Don A. Farrell, Dr. Gordon E. Castanza - editor
- Narrated by: John Lescault
- Length: 18 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 31
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 30
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 30
Atomic Bomb Island tells the story of an elite, top-secret team of sailors, airmen, scientists, technicians, and engineers who came to Tinian in the Marianas in the middle of 1945 to prepare the island for delivery of the atomic bombs then being developed in New Mexico, to finalize the designs of the bombs themselves, and to launch the missions that would unleash hell on Japan.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Required WW2 reading
- By Allen on 04-02-21
By: Don A. Farrell, and others
-
Raven Rock
- The Story of the U.S. Government's Secret Plan to Save Itself - While the Rest of Us Die
- By: Garrett M. Graff
- Narrated by: Jacques Roy
- Length: 18 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,262
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,132
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,122
A fresh window on American history: the eye-opening truth about the government's secret plans to survive a catastrophic attack on US soil, even if the rest of us die - a road map that spans from the dawn of the nuclear age to today.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Awesome Read!!
- By Brewer Richardson on 05-05-17
By: Garrett M. Graff
Publisher's summary
It began with plutonium, the first element ever manufactured in quantity by humans. Fearing that the Germans would be the first to weaponize the atom, the United States marshaled brilliant minds and seemingly inexhaustible bodies to find a way to create a nuclear chain reaction of inconceivable explosive power. In a matter of months, the Hanford nuclear facility was built to produce and weaponize the enigmatic and deadly new material that would fuel atomic bombs. In the desert of Eastern Washington State, far from prying eyes, scientists Glenn Seaborg, Enrico Fermi, and many thousands of others manufactured plutonium for the bomb dropped on Nagasaki and for the bombs in the current American nuclear arsenal, enabling the construction of weapons with the potential to end human civilization.
With his characteristic blend of scientific clarity and storytelling, Steve Olson asks why Hanford has been largely overlooked in histories of the Manhattan Project and the Cold War. Olson recounts how a small Washington town played host to some of the most influential scientists and engineers in American history as they sought to create the substance at the core of the most destructive weapons ever created. The Apocalypse Factory offers a new generation this dramatic story of human achievement and, ultimately, of lethal hubris.
Related to this topic
-
Atoms and Ashes
- A Global History of Nuclear Disasters
- By: Serhii Plokhy
- Narrated by: Leighton Pugh
- Length: 12 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 97
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 86
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 85
Atoms and Ashes recounts the dramatic history of nuclear accidents that have dogged the industry in its military and civil incarnations since the 1950s. Through the stories of six terrifying major incidents—Bikini Atoll, Kyshtym, Windscale, Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima—Cold War expert Serhii Plokhy explores the risks of nuclear power, both for military and peaceful purposes, while offering a vivid account of how individuals and governments make decisions under extraordinary circumstances.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
This was a pretty sensational and biased book.
- By J. Seawright on 06-11-22
By: Serhii Plokhy
-
The Age of Radiance
- The Epic Rise and Dramatic Fall of the Atomic Era
- By: Craig Nelson
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 14 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 89
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 80
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 80
From the New York Times best-selling author of Rocket Men and the award-winning biographer of Thomas Paine comes the first complete history of the Atomic Age, a brilliant, magisterial account of the men and women who uncovered the secrets of the nucleus, brought its power to America, and ignited the 20th century.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Strong finish
- By David's Opinions and Reviews on 05-04-14
By: Craig Nelson
-
The Making of the Atomic Bomb
- 25th Anniversary Edition
- By: Richard Rhodes
- Narrated by: Holter Graham
- Length: 37 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,028
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,606
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,584
Here for the first time, in rich human, political, and scientific detail, is the complete story of how the bomb was developed, from the turn-of-the-century discovery of the vast energy locked inside the atom to the dropping of the first bombs on Japan. Few great discoveries have evolved so swiftly - or have been so misunderstood. From the theoretical discussions of nuclear energy to the bright glare of Trinity, there was a span of hardly more than 25 years.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Beware limitations of the reader
- By JFanson on 01-01-19
By: Richard Rhodes
-
Chasing Heisenberg
- The Race for the Atom Bomb
- By: Michael Joseloff
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 3 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 76
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 62
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 61
After a devastating run of German victories, Allied troops are beginning to halt Hitler’s advance. But far from the battlefields, Allied scientists are struggling. Intelligence reports put them a distant second behind the Germans in a competition that could determine the outcome of the war: the race to build the world’s first nuclear weapon. For the Allies’ top scientists, the race is deeply personal. J. Robert Oppenheimer, Enrico Fermi, and Samuel Goudsmit have known Hitler’s chief atomic scientist, Werner Heisenberg, for years.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A Good Overview/Introduction to the Bomb Race
- By Ashlyn on 08-05-20
By: Michael Joseloff
-
Meltdown
- Nuclear Disaster and the Human Cost of Going Critical
- By: Joel Levy
- Narrated by: Kris Dyer
- Length: 12 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 44
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 38
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 38
From the pioneers of Los Alamos who got up close and personal with the cores of atomic bombs, to the hapless engineers in Soviet fuel-processing plants who unwittingly mixed up a disaster in a bucket, and from the terrifying impact of a tsunami at Fukushima to the mystery of the recent Russian incident, Meltdown explores the past and future of this extraordinary and potentially lethal source of infinite power
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
A less well written version of another book
- By Amazon Customer on 01-10-22
By: Joel Levy
-
The Bastard Brigade
- The True Story of the Renegade Scientists and Spies Who Sabotaged the Nazi Atomic Bomb
- By: Sam Kean
- Narrated by: Ben Sullivan
- Length: 14 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 916
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 812
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 809
During World War II, in the middle of building an atomic bomb, the leaders of the Manhattan Project were alarmed to learn that Nazi Germany was far outpacing the Allies in nuclear weapons research; Hitler, with just a few pounds of uranium, would have the capability to reverse the entire D-Day operation and conquer Europe. So they assembled a rough and motley crew of geniuses—dubbed the Alsos Mission—and sent them careening into Axis territory to spy on, sabotage, and even assassinate members of Nazi Germany's feared Uranium Club.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Awesome
- By Solar red on 07-12-19
By: Sam Kean
-
Atoms and Ashes
- A Global History of Nuclear Disasters
- By: Serhii Plokhy
- Narrated by: Leighton Pugh
- Length: 12 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 97
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 86
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 85
Atoms and Ashes recounts the dramatic history of nuclear accidents that have dogged the industry in its military and civil incarnations since the 1950s. Through the stories of six terrifying major incidents—Bikini Atoll, Kyshtym, Windscale, Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima—Cold War expert Serhii Plokhy explores the risks of nuclear power, both for military and peaceful purposes, while offering a vivid account of how individuals and governments make decisions under extraordinary circumstances.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
This was a pretty sensational and biased book.
- By J. Seawright on 06-11-22
By: Serhii Plokhy
-
The Age of Radiance
- The Epic Rise and Dramatic Fall of the Atomic Era
- By: Craig Nelson
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 14 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 89
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 80
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 80
From the New York Times best-selling author of Rocket Men and the award-winning biographer of Thomas Paine comes the first complete history of the Atomic Age, a brilliant, magisterial account of the men and women who uncovered the secrets of the nucleus, brought its power to America, and ignited the 20th century.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Strong finish
- By David's Opinions and Reviews on 05-04-14
By: Craig Nelson
-
The Making of the Atomic Bomb
- 25th Anniversary Edition
- By: Richard Rhodes
- Narrated by: Holter Graham
- Length: 37 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,028
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,606
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,584
Here for the first time, in rich human, political, and scientific detail, is the complete story of how the bomb was developed, from the turn-of-the-century discovery of the vast energy locked inside the atom to the dropping of the first bombs on Japan. Few great discoveries have evolved so swiftly - or have been so misunderstood. From the theoretical discussions of nuclear energy to the bright glare of Trinity, there was a span of hardly more than 25 years.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Beware limitations of the reader
- By JFanson on 01-01-19
By: Richard Rhodes
-
Chasing Heisenberg
- The Race for the Atom Bomb
- By: Michael Joseloff
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 3 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 76
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 62
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 61
After a devastating run of German victories, Allied troops are beginning to halt Hitler’s advance. But far from the battlefields, Allied scientists are struggling. Intelligence reports put them a distant second behind the Germans in a competition that could determine the outcome of the war: the race to build the world’s first nuclear weapon. For the Allies’ top scientists, the race is deeply personal. J. Robert Oppenheimer, Enrico Fermi, and Samuel Goudsmit have known Hitler’s chief atomic scientist, Werner Heisenberg, for years.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A Good Overview/Introduction to the Bomb Race
- By Ashlyn on 08-05-20
By: Michael Joseloff
-
Meltdown
- Nuclear Disaster and the Human Cost of Going Critical
- By: Joel Levy
- Narrated by: Kris Dyer
- Length: 12 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 44
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 38
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 38
From the pioneers of Los Alamos who got up close and personal with the cores of atomic bombs, to the hapless engineers in Soviet fuel-processing plants who unwittingly mixed up a disaster in a bucket, and from the terrifying impact of a tsunami at Fukushima to the mystery of the recent Russian incident, Meltdown explores the past and future of this extraordinary and potentially lethal source of infinite power
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
A less well written version of another book
- By Amazon Customer on 01-10-22
By: Joel Levy
-
The Bastard Brigade
- The True Story of the Renegade Scientists and Spies Who Sabotaged the Nazi Atomic Bomb
- By: Sam Kean
- Narrated by: Ben Sullivan
- Length: 14 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 916
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 812
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 809
During World War II, in the middle of building an atomic bomb, the leaders of the Manhattan Project were alarmed to learn that Nazi Germany was far outpacing the Allies in nuclear weapons research; Hitler, with just a few pounds of uranium, would have the capability to reverse the entire D-Day operation and conquer Europe. So they assembled a rough and motley crew of geniuses—dubbed the Alsos Mission—and sent them careening into Axis territory to spy on, sabotage, and even assassinate members of Nazi Germany's feared Uranium Club.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Awesome
- By Solar red on 07-12-19
By: Sam Kean
-
Dark Sun
- The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb
- By: Richard Rhodes
- Narrated by: Richard Rhodes
- Length: 6 hrs
- Abridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 466
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 396
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 398
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.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Abridged??
- By Delano on 04-17-13
By: Richard Rhodes
-
The Radioactive Boy Scout
- The Frightening True Story of a Whiz Kid and His Homemade Nuclear Reactor
- By: Ken Silverstein
- Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross
- Length: 6 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 46
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 43
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 43
Growing up in suburban Detroit, David Hahn was fascinated by science. While he was working on his Atomic Energy badge for the Boy Scouts, David's obsessive attention turned to nuclear energy. Throwing caution to the wind, he plunged into a new project: building a model nuclear reactor in his backyard garden shed. Posing as a physics professor, David solicited information on reactor design from the US government and from industry experts. Following blueprints he found in an outdated physics textbook, David cobbled together a crude device that threw off toxic levels of radiation.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Interesting story
- By Kevin Gunter on 07-16-19
By: Ken Silverstein
-
The Alchemy of Air
- A Jewish Genius, a Doomed Tycoon, and the Scientific Discovery That Fed the World but Fueled the Rise of Hitler
- By: Thomas Hager
- Narrated by: Adam Verner
- Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,577
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,349
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,345
At the dawn of the 20th century, humanity was facing global disaster. Mass starvation, long predicted for the fast-growing population, was about to become a reality. A call went out to the worlds scientists to find a solution. This is the story of the two enormously gifted, fatally flawed men who found it: the brilliant, self-important Fritz Haber and the reclusive, alcoholic Carl Bosch. Together they discovered a way to make bread out of air, built city-sized factories, controlled world markets, and saved millions of lives.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great Book Thoroughly Researched
- By Terry A. Gray on 10-21-11
By: Thomas Hager
-
Uranium
- War, Energy, and the Rock That Shaped the World
- By: Tom Zoellner
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 12 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 379
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 181
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 187
Uranium is a common element in the earth's crust and the only naturally occurring mineral with the power to end all life on the planet. After World War II, it reshaped the global order---whoever could master uranium could master the world. Marie Curie gave us hope that uranium would be a miracle panacea, but the Manhattan Project gave us reason to believe that civilization would end with apocalypse.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
GREAT book, awful narration
- By Carolyn on 03-30-09
By: Tom Zoellner
-
Manual for Survival
- A Chernobyl Guide to the Future
- By: Kate Brown
- Narrated by: Christina Delaine
- Length: 12 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 44
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 39
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 40
After 1991, international organizations from the Red Cross to Greenpeace sought to help the victims, yet found themselves stymied by post-Soviet political circumstances they did not understand. International diplomats and scientists allied to the nuclear industry evaded or denied the fact of a wide-scale public health disaster caused by radiation exposure. Efforts to spin the story about Chernobyl were largely successful; the official death toll ranges between 31 and 54 people. In reality, radiation exposure from the disaster caused between 35,000 and 150,000 deaths in Ukraine alone.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Must read this timely book
- By Amazon Customer on 03-26-22
By: Kate Brown
-
Tuxedo Park
- A Wall Street Tycoon and the Secret Palace of Science That Changed the Course of World War II
- By: Jennet Conant
- Narrated by: John Kroft
- Length: 13 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 102
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 96
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 96
In the late 1930s, legendary financier, philanthropist, and society figure Alfred Lee Loomis gathered the most visionary scientific minds of the 20th century at his state-of-the-art laboratory in Tuxedo Park, New York. He established a top-secret defense laboratory at MIT and personally bankrolled pioneering research into new, high-powered radar detection systems that helped defeat the German Air Force and U-boats. With Ernest Lawrence, he pushed Franklin Delano Roosevelt to fund research in nuclear fission, which led to the development of the atomic bomb.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fantastic book, weak technical execution
- By Paul on 10-13-18
By: Jennet Conant
-
Midnight in Chernobyl
- By: Adam Higginbotham
- Narrated by: Jacques Roy
- Length: 13 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 7,711
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 6,754
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 6,715
April 25, 1986 in Chernobyl was a turning point in world history. The disaster not only changed the world’s perception of nuclear power and the science that spawned it, but also our understanding of the planet’s delicate ecology. With the images of the abandoned homes and playgrounds beyond the barbed wire of the 30-kilometer Exclusion Zone, the rusting graveyards of contaminated trucks and helicopters, the farmland lashed with black rain, the event fixed for all time the notion of radiation as an invisible killer.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Midnight in Chernobyl is the book to listen to.
- By NH on 03-21-19
-
Chernobyl
- The History of a Nuclear Catastrophe
- By: Serhii Plokhy
- Narrated by: Ralph Lister
- Length: 14 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,958
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,748
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,742
On the morning of April 26, 1986, Europe witnessed the worst nuclear disaster in history: the explosion of a reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Soviet Ukraine. Dozens died of radiation poisoning, fallout contaminated half the continent, and thousands fell ill. In Chernobyl, Serhii Plokhy draws on new sources to tell the dramatic stories of the firefighters, scientists, and soldiers who heroically extinguished the nuclear inferno. He lays bare the flaws of the Soviet nuclear industry....
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Companions to Each Other
- By Tim on 06-04-19
By: Serhii Plokhy
-
Countdown 1945
- The Extraordinary Story of the Atomic Bomb and the 116 Days That Changed the World
- By: Chris Wallace, Mitch Weiss
- Narrated by: Chris Wallace
- Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,203
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,876
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,862
April 12, 1945: After years of bloody conflict in Europe and the Pacific, America is stunned by news of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s death. In an instant, Vice President Harry Truman, who has been kept out of war planning and knows nothing of the top-secret Manhattan Project to develop the world’s first atomic bomb, must assume command of a nation at war on multiple continents—and confront one of the most consequential decisions in history. Countdown 1945 tells the gripping true story of the turbulent days, weeks, and months to follow.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Chris Wallace killed it!
- By Gaming Pancakes on 06-11-20
By: Chris Wallace, and others
-
The Pentagon's Brain
- An Uncensored History of DARPA, America's Top-Secret Military Research Agency
- By: Annie Jacobsen
- Narrated by: Annie Jacobsen
- Length: 18 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,912
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,583
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,571
Discover the definitive history of DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency, in this Pulitzer Prize finalist from the author of the New York Times best seller Area 51. No one has ever written the history of the Defense Department's most secret, most powerful, and most controversial military science R&D agency. In the first-ever history about the organization, New York Times best-selling author Annie Jacobsen draws on inside sources, exclusive interviews, private documents, and declassified memos to paint a picture of DARPA, or "the Pentagon's brain".
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Scientia Est Potentia/Knowledge is Power
- By Cynthia on 10-08-15
By: Annie Jacobsen
-
The Pentagon
- A History
- By: Steve Vogel
- Narrated by: Paul Heitsch
- Length: 19 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 28
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 26
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 26
The creation of the Pentagon in 17 whirlwind months during World War II is one of the great construction feats in American history, involving a tremendous mobilization of manpower, resources, and minds. The Pentagon's post-World War II history is told through its critical moments, including the troubled birth of the Department of Defense during the Cold War, the tense days of the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the tumultuous 1967 protest against the Vietnam War. The pivotal attack on September 11 is related with chilling new detail, as is the race to rebuild....
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Motivational and complete
- By Eric G. on 02-02-23
By: Steve Vogel
-
Big Science
- Ernest Lawrence and the Invention That Launched the Military-Industrial Complex
- By: Michael Hiltzik
- Narrated by: Bob Saouer
- Length: 14 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 116
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 101
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 100
Since the 1930s, the scale of scientific endeavors has grown exponentially. The birth of Big Science can be traced to Berkeley, California, nearly nine decades ago, when a resourceful young scientist pondered his new invention and declared, "I'm going to be famous!" Ernest Orlando Lawrence's cyclotron would revolutionize nuclear physics, but that was only the beginning of its impact.This is the incredible story of how one invention changed the world and of the man principally responsible for it all. Michael Hiltzik tells the riveting full story here for the first time.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
An informative and thought-provoking book
- By Jean on 08-23-15
By: Michael Hiltzik
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
Atoms and Ashes
- A Global History of Nuclear Disasters
- By: Serhii Plokhy
- Narrated by: Leighton Pugh
- Length: 12 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 97
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 86
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 85
Atoms and Ashes recounts the dramatic history of nuclear accidents that have dogged the industry in its military and civil incarnations since the 1950s. Through the stories of six terrifying major incidents—Bikini Atoll, Kyshtym, Windscale, Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima—Cold War expert Serhii Plokhy explores the risks of nuclear power, both for military and peaceful purposes, while offering a vivid account of how individuals and governments make decisions under extraordinary circumstances.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
This was a pretty sensational and biased book.
- By J. Seawright on 06-11-22
By: Serhii Plokhy
-
Restricted Data
- The History of Nuclear Secrecy in the United States
- By: Alex Wellerstein
- Narrated by: John McLain
- Length: 17 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged