Rating: 
Summary: Essential Reading !
Review: Some reviewers here complains that the book does not cover the tech stuff in detail. I disagree. The book covers everything you NEED to know about the making of H bombs. But what maters is that this is not a book about H-bomb engineering. This is a book about history and people. And the author did a superb job exposing the "hidden" secrets (for the ordinary people) of the cold war. This book should be mandatory reading at school.
Rating: 
Summary: A little disappointing...
Review: The parts of this book that discuss the thermo-nuclear theory and implementation/building of the first device are excellant as befits Mr. Rhodes...the balance of the story revolves around the parallel operation that the Soviets were undertaking with regard to their atomic program and it paled by comparison. Although important, I would have prefered all the "spy" history covered in another volume and a little more personal detail on the U.S. thermo-nuclear program included. That being said, this book is the definite discussion of how the Cold War entered the thermo-nuclear age. Recommended reading.
Rating: 
Summary: Spare the politics, Richard!
Review: The science is great reading, and the character studies are first rate: Curtis Lemay emerges as the most colorful, and in my opinion, the book's most enjoyable, non-scientific aspect. Is this guy for real, or what? The H-bomb is a real life Catch-22. Skim Rhodes' personal observations. The cold war was absurd--so what?! Get this book in your library to read and reread for the history of the bloody thing.
Rating:
Summary: intricate and satisfying at the end
Review: The sequel to The Making of the Atom Bomb repeats very little yet can be read by itself. At first, Dark Sun grinds through newly discovered proof of extensive WWII Soviet Spy activity at the heart of the Manhattan project. Stay with it, because this is a real story of well-intentioned people faced with moral dilemmas of the ultimate immorality. War. The aristocratic patriot Oppenheimer is falsely accused of slowing down the H-bomb. Accused by the petulant Teller, who had twice left the project. Teller the conceiver. Oppenheimer the team builder, bomb builder. The double or triple ironies of the Oppenheimer hearings were that he was not blameless--he had falsified a version of contacts from Communists--and that Teller went on record that Oppenheimer was beyond reproach in his patriotism. As the cast is established, the reader learns details of the 1952 Mike Shot, the first human-made thermonuclear fusion (thermo- because heavy hydrogen must be first heated to 400 million degrees). The story is intricately woven with the Cold War--Berlin Airlift, Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Korean War. It is cathartic for those who lived through the airraid drills and radioactive snow of the 1950's
Rating:
Summary: Good, but not as good as "The Making of the Atomic Bomb"
Review: The title is a little deceptive. The development of the H-bomb doesn't start until the book is 3/4 over, most of the book covers the Soviet A-bomb program and the associated Soviet spies. It's still a must read for students of the Cold War.
Rating:
Summary: fga;lru
Review: The title of Rhodes sequel to THE MAKING OF THE ATOMIC BOMB is a little deceptive. DARK SUN goes into far more detail;the politics, Russian nuclear program and the development of the H bomb. Additionally, Rhodes summerizes some of the main points from THE MAKING OF THE ATOMIC BOMB so as to set the stage for the sequel. These aren't flaws, though. Rhodes recognizes that all of these elements contributed to the drive to create the H bomb. Additionally, the extended narrative approach Rhodes takes here allows for a detailed examination of the Oppenheimer-Teller conflict, the Rosenbergs and deflating some of the myths of the cold war era. Yes, Rhodes has his own political opinion about the whole mess. You don't have to agree with him to appreciate the detailed story he tells here. --This text refers to the paperback edition of this title
Rating:
Summary: Why is this book so good?
Review: This book gives you the strange feeling of being absolutely riveted to a dry and technical story line. It is woven with pure science but peppered with fascinating accounts of personal lives. One of my thoughts throughout the reading of this book was: "My god! Why isn't this material classified! How did this get published?" If you have any curiousity about how atomic and hydrogen bombs actually work, you won't have much to wonder about after reading this. I'm not sure whether Richard Rhodes is a genius in his writing or whether these geeky scientists just happened to be utterly fascinating people, but I was totally absorbed by the lives and details of the physists as they struggled to make the bombs. Throw in the intrige of the american spies, giving away the U.S.'s most precious secrets for a naive and unfulfilled ideology, and Curtis LeMay's chilling "performance" as the mad SAC bomber and you have a story no writer could ever have concocted. The truth is stranger than fiction. All this against the backdrop of WWII and the Cold War history will change your perception of all the events of the past 60 years that you thought you were so familiar with. I read this book before his earlier book "The Making of the Atomic Bomb", which I will read soon. Richard Rhodes has been on a recent History Channel show too, and was very interesting on camera, as well. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: It is not the second part of a Pulitzer prize.
Review: This book has history, science and politics. If you have read the previous book "The Making of the Atomic Bomb" this new one will not result so exciting. It is very extensive in the politics and discussions behind the bomb, and scientists are not in the first stage. It is more a real spyonage history than a science book.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting, but often wanting evidence
Review: This book has some serious strengths. The narrations of the Soviet atomic project are clear and detailed. Rhodes argues convincingly the interesting observation that Soviet atomic research was often dominated to produce a "sure thing," in an effort to save the scientists from Stalin and often at the expense of scientific progress. Unfortunately, Rhodes' attempt to keep a historian's distant relationship with his characters while still presenting them in a believable narrative accomplishes neither. The characters come off somewhat flat (even the cameo by the eccentric Paul Erdos is somewhat stilted and mechanical), while speculation on the motives of actors make it difficult to extract anything hard about them. Often Rhodes encounters the common historical difficulty of evidence that prompts a question but does not answer it. In these cases, his custom is to make up an answer and give a plausibility argument. Thus, I have a hard time putting great confidence in any but the most large-scale (and often unoriginal) conclusions. He also commits the minor crime of taking sides in many of Edward Teller's personal conflicts. True, Teller is easy to see as a villan, and others such as Ulam and Oppenheimer are easy good guys, but the force of the historical conclusions is undermined. On the whole, the book is good for proposing ideas. However, many interesting books could be written (if only the evidence is available) hammering out good arguments for or against Rhodes' answers.
Rating:
Summary: I couldn't put it down.
Review: Two main themes: the development of the Soviet atomic weapons
and their espionage network to obtain US secrets. Next,
the development of the US hydrogen bomb -- technical breakthoughs. Gripping decription of the preparation
for the first H-bomb detonations in the pacific - huge cryogenic
equipment, elaborate measurement devices, painstaking assembly of exotic materials. Painstakingly documented research crafted into a real story.
| 
