This Pulitzer Prize–winning biography leaves no atom unturned as it explores the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the “father of the atomic bomb.”
Co-authors Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin trace Oppenheimer’s life from his New York upbringing in a German Jewish family amidst growing antisemitic attitudes to his key role in developing the first atomic bomb to his postwar turn towards pacifism—which those in power found very unsettling.
The authors’ meticulous research draws on thousands of personal sources and government documents to unpack the dizzying highs of the scientist’s career right along with the soul-destroying lows that Oppenheimer experienced after creating a weapon of unprecedented destruction.
Narrator Jeff Cummings delivers the audiobook with a calm yet commanding tone that’s just perfect. American Prometheus is an engrossing real-life story that will interest anyone interested in science, history, war, politics, or philosophy.