American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer

“The definitive biography… . Oppenheimer’s life doesn’t influence us. It haunts us.” -Newsweek”A masterful account of Oppenheimer’s rise and fall, set in the context of the turbulent decades of America’s own transformation. It is a tour de force.” -Los Angeles Times Book Review”A work of voluminous scholarship and lucid insight, unifying its multifaceted portrait with a keen grasp of Oppenheimer’s essential nature… . It succeeds in deeply fathoming his most damaging, self-contradictory behavior.” -The New York Times”There have been numerous books about Oppenheimer but they can’t touch this extraordinary book’s impressive breadth and scope.” -The Miami Herald”The first biography to give full due to Oppenheimer’s extraordinary complexity … Stands as an Everest among the mountains of books on the bomb project and Oppenheimer, and is an achievement not likely to be surpassed or equaled.“-The Boston Globe

Kai Bird, a journalist and independent scholar, is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship. Martin J. Sherwin is Professor of History at Tufts University, where he founded and directed the Nuclear Age History and Humanity Centre.