THE MANHATTAN PROJECT

The Manhattan Project is an essential collection of historic writings by the preeminent scientists and historians who bore witness to the birth of the modern nuclear age. This updated edition includes President Barack Obama's 2016 statement at Hiroshima, all-new writings from Japanese survivors of the atomic bomb, and a new foreword by Cynthia C. Kelly.

The creation of the atomic bomb during World War II, codenamed the Manhattan Project, was one of the most significant and clandestine scientific undertakings of the 20th century. It forever changed the nature of war and cast a shadow over civilization. Born out of a small research program that began in 1939, the Manhattan Project would eventually employ nearly 600,000 people and cost about $2 billion ($28.5 billion in 2020) - all while operating under a shroud of complete secrecy.

On the 75th anniversary of this profoundly crucial moment in history, this newest edition of The Manhattan Project is updated with writings and reflections from the past decade and a half. This groundbreaking collection of essays, articles, documents, and excerpts from histories, biographies, plays, novels, letters, and oral histories remains the most comprehensive collection of primary source material of the atomic bomb.

Cynthia E. Kelly is the president of the Atomic Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C., and the editor of several books on the subject including Remembering the Manhattan Project. Richard Rhodes is the author of 26 books, including The Making of the Atomic Bomb, winner of the Pulitzer prize, a National Book Award, and a National Book Critics Circle Award.