Presenter of
the National Book Awards
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Presenter of
the National Book Awards
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Steve Sheinkin is the author of several histories for young readers, including Bomb: The Race to Build and Steal The World’s Most Dangerous Weapon, which was a 2012 National Book Award Finalist for Young People’s Literature and a Newbery Honor Book, and The Notorious Benedict Arnold, which won the YALSA Award for Excellence. More about this author >
Filed in the following archives
In December of 1938, a chemist in a German laboratory made a shocking discovery: When placed next to radioactive material, a Uranium atom split in two. That simple discovery launched a scientific race that spanned three continents. In Great Britain and the United States, Soviet spies worked their way into the scientific community; in Norway, a commando force slipped behind enemy lines to attack German heavy-water manufacturing; and deep in the desert, one brilliant group of scientists was hidden away at a remote site at Los Alamos. This is the story of the plotting, risk-taking, deceit, and genius that created the world’s most formidable weapon. This is the story of the atomic bomb.
Steve Sheinkin does us all a huge service by spotlighting the terrible planet-consuming threat of the hydrogen bomb, for the generation that must continue to control it. Bomb is a riveting account of the development of the unprecedented weapons that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, changing our world forever. It is brilliantly told, with an astonishing cast of scientists, soldiers, politicians, and traitors, and the breathtaking tension of a first-rate thriller.
