Rating: 
Summary: Great book! (4 1/2 stars)
Review: I went to one of the few universities where an entire course on the A-bomb was offered by the history dept, so I already quite a lot about this topic. I majored in astrophysics -- have always been fascinated with all aspects of high energy weapons -- so I was familiar with it from many angles. Guess that makes me a true child of the nuclear era...Anyway, even though this book is thick enough to protect one from neutrino radiation, it was good enough that I read it a second time a little more than a year later. That's saying a lot in a world where there are always too many things unread. There's perhaps too much on the A-bomb, espionage, and the Soviet program for my taste -- would have liked more of the impact of The Bomb on US cultural history. However, I realize Rhodes was trying to create a comprehensive and definitive work, and in that he succeeded beyond expectation. Even the parts of the tale I wasn't particularly interested in were often engrossing, and of course the scientific parts of the story are incredible. This whole episode in world history is surreal, and that sense is preserved in a book which is accessible to anyone with the appetite to handle the vast amount of material.
Rating:
Summary: A lot of ground covered, but a solid follow-up
Review: Not quite as strong as "The Making of the Atomic Bomb". Rhodes presents the genesis of the atomic bomb in the Soviet Union as a history of espionage instead of invention. While stolen data did play a significant role in the Soviet nuclear program, this presentation slights some of the great minds at work in the Soviet Union. On the other hand, "The Making of the Atomic Bomb" profits from character studies of the leading minds at work in the Allied bomb programs without slighting the Axis scientists. The Soviet bomb program might have benefitted from a volume of its own. All the same, Rhodes shines as he explores Soviet spycraft and the growing discomfort of the American bomb-makers. As in "The Making of the Atomic Bomb", the accounts of scientific collaboration and individual innovation are fascinating for students of problem-solving and cognition in scientific discovery. Rhodes' account of Curtis LeMay's itchy trigger finger, and the paranoia of his successors, is especially unnerving.
Rating: 
Summary: One of the Finest Works of History I've Ever Read
Review: Now this is truly a superb history, one of the best historical narratives I've ever read.
I must also say--without hyperbole--that this is the SCARIEST book I've ever read.
Truly frightening in a way that nothing else could be.
Rating: 
Summary: Sometimes innacurrate
Review: On all things directly nuclear and related to Los Alamos this is quite interesting. But Rhodes often branches out to wider bits of history, and often gets those wrong. For instance his entire discussion of MacArthur's dismissal is innacurate; he claims the joint chiefs wanted to keep him and only agreed to let Truman's firing him if they could deploay bombs to the pacific. This is wrong. See for instance Weintraub's recent "MacArthur's War" for a detailed account. Some of Rhodes's other arguments in places are contradictory. Lots of interesting stuff though.
Rating:
Summary: Detailed account of Soviet spying mechanics
Review: Rhodes does a masterful job of detailing Soviet espionage for the USSR to obtain the secret of the A-Bomb. It is perhaps fair to say that without spying the Soviets might not have had the A-Bomb until the mid-late 1950s and world history would have been markedly changed. But, the technological innovation of the H-Bomb was less than that of the A-Bomb and in this sense the story is far less exciting than the first book. Really, the issue for the scientists was not if they could build "The Super" but rather should they.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent history with only a few flaws
Review: Rhodes lives up to his reputation as one of the finest non-fiction writers today. Dark Sun is a vivid and detailed account of the physics and the politics behind the creation of the US thermonuclear bomb as well as the Soviet atomic project. Where Rhodes does slip is in his analysis of events. His meticulous attention to detail fails him when he has a political point to be made for which he has seemingly already come to a conclusion. Despite the fall of the USSR and the consequent liberation of millions, Rhodes still thinks the arms race was a failure (!) and the cost of it- about $4Trillion- could have been used to wipe out poverty, improve education and so forth- despite the failure of such spending in the 1950s through 1980s. Rhodes is also missing a blindingly obvious insight- that the nuclear defense of Europe and the US was chosen in part becasue it was *cheaper* than a conventional defense. The choice was not, as Rhodes seems to think, between a nuclear prog! ram and domestic spending; it was between a nuclear program and a far more expensive conventional military program. But this failure of analysis on Rhodes' part really only applies to a very small part of the book- the conclusions he makes in the last half-dozen pages. It is still an excellent piece of historical writing and highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Detailed yet absolutely gripping
Review: Rhodes' earlier "The Making of the Atomic Bomb" won a Pulitzer prize; I thought this was even better. The first part is an account of Soviet espionage into the Manhattan project; Rhodes lets us in on all the mundane details while allowing the inherent drama to come through in full force. The second part was even more of a revelation: I never thought the nature of the "technically sweet" innovation that saved the H-bomb project would be revealed to the public during my lifetime, but it's spelled out here. I also never thought I'd understand in detail how an H-bomb works, but Rhodes makes it both comprehensible and fascinating. Chapter 24 is the heart of the book--a description of the Mike shot, the world's first thermonuclear explosion. Don't start reading it if you have to go somewhere soon. A classic case of "I couldn't put it down".
Rating:
Summary: Detailed yet absolutely gripping
Review: Rhodes' earlier "The Making of the Atomic Bomb" won a Pulitzer prize; I thought this was even better. The first part is an account of Soviet espionage into the Manhattan project; Rhodes lets us in on all the mundane details while allowing the inherent drama to come through in full force.
The second part was even more of a revelation: I never thought the nature of the "technically sweet" innovation that saved the H-bomb project would be revealed to the public during my lifetime, but it's spelled out here. I also never thought I'd understand in detail how an H-bomb works, but Rhodes makes it both comprehensible and fascinating.
Chapter 24 is the heart of the book--a description of the Mike shot, the world's first thermonuclear explosion. Don't start reading it if you have to go somewhere soon. A classic case of "I couldn't put it down".
Rating:
Summary: Now I can make one!
Review: Richard Rhodes has done it again, rolling together a damn good spy story, complete with sex and violence -- with particle physics and a history lesson
Rating:
Summary: 10 STARS! Essential reading
Review: Richard Rhodes, once again, he delivers the goods. The Chuck Hansen of the written history of the US Nuclear Weapons program, he roughly picks up where he left off, and pulls us on a compelling journey through modern history. We watch as the scientists, now forever changed after Nagasaki, build stronger, lighter, more powerful devices. Uncharted territory ( one actual theory was that the 'Mike' device would ignite the hydrogen in the atmosphere. ) Even if you aren't a hard - core nuke guy, or historian, the ingenuity of America, and the technological hurdles they overcame is still a compelling read. This is one of the few MUST POSSESS treatises on the post-WWII nuclear program that should be on your shelf!
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