Bomb: The Race to Build and Steal the Worlds Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin Book Review

Written by: Steve Sheinkin

Published by: Flash Point in 2012

ISBN: 978-1596434875

Plot Summary: This book starts out with Hitler's armies moving into Austria and Czechoslovakia while a German scientist named Otto Hahn discovers that uranium splits apart and releases energy. The physicist Lise Meitner is doing research on nuclear fission and decides that uranium is the perfect element for a nuclear bomb. Albert Einstein hears of this and tells President Roosevelt that the Germans are close to making a nuclear bomb so Roosevelt gets his best scientists on trying to match the Germans. Robert Oppenheimer offers his help and he begins designing the bomb for the US. The Soviets are too busy fighting the Germans so they decide to steal the design from America when they figure it out. The English and the Americans crate a joint bomb making task force to be the first to succeed. The Soviets cultivate a spy in Harry Gold who feeds them secrets to the bomb making process. The British train Norwegian fighters to sabotage the Germans through destroying their facilities. US Colonel Leslie Groves enlists Oppenheimer to spearhead the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos in New Mexico. The Soviets put two spies in the Manhattan project but the plan goes forward with the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Oppenheimer sees the destructive power of the bomb and argues for the dismantling of the whole project and he gets his security clearance revoked. Oppenheimer was correct as now there are more than 20,000 nuclear weapons there to this day which is enough to kill every living thing on Earth. 

Critical Analysis: This book was so fascinating as it revealed a lot of details that I was unfamiliar with about the Manhattan Project and how it was started. I knew nothing of the Soviet influence on the project. The race to build a weapon was so great at the time because having the entire major countries of the world at war was not a good thing for the planet as a whole as war destroys not only people but the earth that we live on. It makes sense that they were trying to figure out a way to gain superiority in the war to minimize the loss of life but they did the exact opposite in the country of Japan. The author did a great job of writing an engrossing book that wasn't just factual but also weaved a tale of deception, lies, and a whole lot of science. Trust and Suspicion at wartime is always the highest point and it showed through all the McCarthy hearings and other government entities that were tasked with rooting out spies. The author shows the humanity of the men that came up with the bomb as he writes about the pride that they felt knowing they were helping their country, and also the guilt they felt knowing that they were creating something that could destroy human life on a mass scale. 

Review: 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 3 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, the risk-taking, the deceit, and genius that created the world's most formidable weapon. This is the story of the atomic bomb.

Bomb is a 2012 National Book Awards finalist for Young People's Literature.

Bomb is a 2012 Washington Post Best Kids Books of the Year title

Bomb is a 2013 Newbery Honor book.

The Horn Book Review

Connections: Students can take the time to do more research into the Manhattan Project and could compare and contrast what happened back them with what is going on with the Cern Collider in Switzerland while scientists are smashing particles together in the accelerator leading to results that we don't even know yet. 

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