Bomb: The Race to Build - and Steal - the World's Most Dangerous Weapon

Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World's Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Sheinkin tells the riveting story of how people discovered the secrets of the atom bomb - some with careful brainstorming at Los Alamos, some by reading stolen documents delivered by spies. There is heroic sabotage, principled deceit, and a breakneck race to build the world's first superweapon before the enemy does. The development of the atomic bomb was a critical moment for humanity, and Sheinkin gives us all the twists and turns that led to the fateful flight of the Enola Gay and the long arms race of the Cold War.

It is a story everyone should know. "In the end, it is a difficult story to sum up. The making of the atomic bomb is one of history's most amazing examples of teamwork and genius and poise under pressure. But it's also the story of how humans created a weapon capable of wiping our species off the planet. It's a story with no end in sight. "And, like it or not, you're in it." - p. 236

Add this book to your reading list with John Hersey's Hiroshima and Richard Rhodes' books The Making of the Atomic Bomb and Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb. If those sound too intimidating, then check out Peter Seller's absurdist comedy Dr. Strangelove, or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. You'll laugh so hard you might cry.

The Bravest Traitor

The Notorious Benedict Arnold: A True Story of Adventure, Heroism & Treachery by Steve Sheinkin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Before his name became synonymous with traitor, Benedict Arnold was one of the heroes of the American Revolution, and without his reckless courage the Colonies' rebellion may have ended at Saratoga.

George Washington once wrote of Arnold "The merit of this gentleman is certainly great. I heartily wish that fortune may distinguish him as one of her favorites." He was once a byword for bravery, the quintessential American patriot and man of action - but Arnold had his enemies, and earned every one of them with his narcissism, social ineptitude, and quick temper. He was a man with great gifts and fatal flaws.

Sheinkin knows just how to tell a story, and he paints a vivid portrait of this notorious general. If we are not exactly sympathetic to Arnold's treachery, at least we understand what led up to it by the end of this compelling history, which ends with this story:

"If you visit the Saratoga battlefield, which is now a national park, you may see a very strange monument, one that perfectly symbolizes Arnold's place in the United States. It's tucked away off the main path, near tour stop number seven, the spot where Arnold led his final charge as an American general. It's a small stone sculpture of a lower left leg. No person, just a tall boot.

"A plaque reads: 'In memory of the most brilliant soldier of the Continental Army who was desperately wounded on this spot, the sally port of Burgoyne's Great Western Redoubt 7th October, 1777, winning for his countrymen the decisive battle of the American Revolution.'

"Nowhere does the monument mention the name Benedict Arnold."

- p. 306-307