The Devil Reached Toward the Sky - by Garrett M Graff (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

From the New York Times bestselling author of When the Sea Came Alive and The Only Plane in the Sky, a sweeping and comprehensive oral history of the atomic bomb's creation and deployment, marking the 80th anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

April 12, 1945. Less than three months into his vice presidency, Harry Truman is catapulted into the Oval Office following the sudden death of Franklin D. Roosevelt. As he recites the oath, he learns a chilling secret known only to a select few: the United States is on the verge of deploying a weapon of unimaginable power. This weapon could end the war but also herald a new age of global fear and uncertainty.

Drawing from over twenty-five oral history archives across the US, Japan, and Europe, Graff has masterfully blended the memories and perspectives from key figures like Harry Truman and J. Robert Oppenheimer, the crews of the B-29 bombers, Enola Gay and Bock's Car, and the haunting stories of those at ground zero in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, including the experiences of the hibakusha--the "bomb-affected people"--and the rescuers who bravely faced the devastation.

Enriched by memoirs, diaries, letters, official documents, and news reports, this is an immersive and deeply human account of the then-secret Manhattan Project through the end of World War II and the dawning of the Cold War, capturing the scientific breakthroughs, military decisions, and profound ethical dilemmas that emerged from using nuclear weapons.

A testament to human ingenuity and resilience, The Devil Reached Toward the Sky explores the complex legacy of the atomic bomb, offering a vivid, multi-dimensional view of events that reshaped the world. It is an essential read for anyone looking to grasp the full impact of this critical moment in history and the enduring questions it raises about wielding such destructive power.

Review Quotes

Praise for The Only Plane in the Sky

"A riveting step-by-step account of the day . . . The technique of letting the witnesses tell the story does a remarkable job of bringing to life the horrific day in a way that a writer's narrative would have a hard time matching. . . . It makes for a gripping read--and a reminder of the country at its best while under attack." --Associated Press

"Graff has woven a powerful, graphic narrative of how September 11 played out everywhere from the International Space Station to the inside of the collapsing World Trade Center towers. . . . I repeatedly cried. I could feel my pulse elevate. I often had to put it down after a dozen pages. But I think that's the point of the book. September 11 was terrible and confusing, and the more time passes, sometimes the harder that is to remember. No matter how much we try to describe those feelings to children who didn't live through them, something will be lost in the translation and telling. This book captures the emotions and unspooling horror of the day. It will be a good text to hand to a curious teenager when he one day asks: What was September 11 really like?" --NPR

"Over 64 fine-sliced chapters, Mr. Graff . . . gives us 'the stories of those who lived through and experienced 9/11--where they were, what they remember, and how their lives changed.' The result is remarkable, and Mr. Graff's curation of these accounts--drawn from hundreds of his own interviews and from the reporting of other journalists and historians--is a priceless civic gift. . . . The book is refreshingly free from editorializing, ideology and ululation. It gives us instead poignant, often distressing, vignettes and impressions of the day and its aftermath. On page after page, a reader will encounter words that startle, or make him angry, or heartbroken, or queasy." --The Wall Street Journal

"Remarkable . . . Incredibly evocative and compelling . . . Allows you to experience this fateful day in an intimately visceral fashion, starting with the ordinary (the sky was gorgeously blue) and progressing to confusion, fear, numbness, and grief. . . . By letting those who were present tell stories in their own words, Graff has created a remarkably effective and deeply moving history. Be careful if you read this book in public--at some point you may encounter a story or detail that will bring back memories that overwhelm you." --The Washington Post

"Intense . . . Dramatic . . . Graff's project beautifully achieves its chief goal--educating people too young or born too late to remember what the day of September 11, 2001, felt like. But it also restores a form [oral history] to its rightful place as necessity." --New York Times Book Review

"An ambitious oral history of 9/11 from the perspective of nearly everyone involved--from Laura Bush to the first firefighter on the scene to the young gate agent who checked the hijackers' plane tickets. Every single line is breathtaking and heartbreaking, weaving together the story of previously unimaginable and tragic events that changed the course of history." --Newsweek

"Compelling . . . The voices in The Only Plane in the Sky are so vivid. . . . There are snippets in Graff's oral history from those who perished--messages for loved ones left by office workers stranded on the upper floors of the towers; calls from flight attendants and passengers aboard United Flight 93 that were recorded or remembered. But most of the voices in the book belong to survivors. That may explain, at least in part, why The Only Plane in the Sky manages to feel hopeful. . . . Eventually, of course, all of us who remember 9/11 will be gone, and some of our stories will be forgotten. But, thanks to Graff's fine work, many will endure." --Jay Carney, Air Mail

"Oral history at its finest . . . Graff's skillful organization and flawless pacing allows him to present multiple perspectives, quickly shifting locations and points of view around the country, to follow every moment. The result is a smooth-flowing, moving and thoroughly human narrative with emotional impact, a sense of detail and immediacy more powerful and moving than any dramatic film or documentary." --Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

"Woven together, each piece assembles into a fresco/tapestry with great evocative power, one that gives readers the feeling of reliving--minute by minute--a tragic day on which nearly 3,000 people of 90 different nationalities were killed and 6,000 were injured. But The Only Plane in the Sky wouldn't be the gem is it without Garrett Graff's masterful editing and his sense of rhythm; it allows a closeness with the event as it was experienced--and still is today--by those who lived through it. For this reason, this exceptional document must also be read as a brilliant work of immediate history that reports on the upheavals of the world precisely where they happen: at the heart of the human experience." --Le Monde

"Graff excels at re-creating the anxiety and terror of that day . . . Readers who emerge dry-eyed from the text should check their pulses: Something is wrong with their hearts." --Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Harrowing and powerful . . . This vivid, moving work is painful to read but honors both those who died and those who survived that awful day." --Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"This is history at its most immediate and moving. Garrett Graff has crafted an enduring portrait of a deadly and consequential day, a day that has shaped all other subsequent days in America for nearly two decades. A marvelous and memorable book." --Jon Meacham, author of The Soul of America

"As I read The Only Plane in the Sky, I was instantly transported back to the chaos, shock, and fear that we all felt on September 11. Reliving the day in real time, through the eyes of Americans on the ground and in the air, had me turning each page with my heart in my throat. I may have known how the story would end, but reading these intensely personal accounts reminded me why this tragic day would change us forever, while the stories of courage and resilience renewed my faith in humanity. There's been a lot written about 9/11, but nothing like this. I urge you to read it." --Katie Couric

Praise for When the Sea Came Alive

"Absolutely gripping. . . . Graff, who was a Pulitzer finalist for Watergate, has collected thousands of short statements from soldiers, nurses, pilots, children, neighbors, sailors, politicians, volunteers, photographers, reporters and so many more and then woven them together to create a contemporaneous narrative of the Allied invasion on June 6, 1944. . . . Given the political situation in the United States today, when some of our leaders are so complacent, even enthusiastic, about the resurgence of fascism, the power of this story feels spiked with foreboding. . . . Never before have I approached Memorial Day in a state of such somber awe." --Ron Charles, The Washington Post

"Garrett Graff is a treasure: a historian rather like Erik Larson with a vast curiosity. He's written some of the very best books out there on UFOs, Watergate, and 9/11 (The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11 is brilliant--and not for the faint of heart.) Now he has turned his attention to D-Day, the invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944, and again he has added so much to what we know and what happened that day (and in the months leading up to it). Using the words of the men and women who were there--some famous, most not--he has crafted a moment by moment and beach by beach narrative that is riveting. As the nephew of a member of the 101st Airborne, Easy Company, it was deeply moving to learn more specifically what my uncle experienced. But, the fact is, you don't need a personal connection to someone who was there to have 'all the feels.' This is the sort of book that is smart, inspiring, and powerful--and adds so much to our knowledge of what that day was like and its historic importance forever." --Chris Bohjalian, New York Times bestselling author of The Flight Attendant

"Gripping and propulsive . . . A panoramic view of an astonishingly intricate plan coming to fruition, undertaken by men and women with a clear sense of its momentousness. Readers will be spellbound." --Publisher's Weekly (starred review)

"From books by historian Stephen Ambrose to films like Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan, there's ample works chronicling the June 6, 1944, landing during World War II that ultimately led to the downfall of Nazi Germany. But in When the Sea Came Alive: An Oral History of D-Day, Graff weaves together hundreds of eyewitness accounts to create a history that stands alongside those works, expanding readers' understanding of D-Day and offering a new, complete portrait in time for the 80th anniversary commemorations. . . . The book excels in highlighting the experiences of Black soldiers who landed on D-Day beaches and women who were part of the story, such as correspondent Martha Gellhorn. . . . [A] testimony to the value in preserving memories from grand historical events, demonstrating how much can be unearthed from even the most familiar stories." ?Associated Press

"With well over 200 volumes written about this most important day in World War II, it's difficult to imagine any book breaking new ground. Yet Mr. Graff manages to bring a completely different perspective. . . . Drawing from numerous memoirs, published histories, and thousands of oral histories from all the involved countries, especially the extensive archive at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans, the author captures the perspectives of generals and civilians and the numerous ordinary soldiers and sailors that fought on that momentous day. . . . This is the real distinction of this book--it presents D-Day history not as some sweeping battle narrative, but as the thousands of individuals stories that collectively decided the course of the battle that day." --New York Journal of Books

"The oral-history template lends the tale a striking immediacy, and he excavates stories from a wide swath of people from both sides of the war whose testimonies recall immense bravery and utter devastation while reminding readers of the capriciousness of victory, not to mention survival. As one U.S. Navy veteran put it: 'Call it luck, divine providence, call it what you please, but here I am.'" --The Washington Post, "Seven Historical Books to Read This Summer"

"From the wonderfully evocative title to the last mournful memory, this is one of the greatest war stories ever told. Through the words of the people who made D-Day happen or bore the brunt, Garrett Graff has crafted a masterpiece of oral history. When the Sea Came Alive is stirring, surprising, grim, joyous, moving and always riveting." --Evan Thomas

"[Graff] weaves the sprawling story of the Normandy invasion, capturing the raw, human essence of this pivotal day from the perspectives of those who lived it. . . . Graff excels at sifting through an extensive trove of materials to bring the Normandy landings to life. . . . The book stands as a testament to the power of preserving historical memories, demonstrating how much can be gleaned from even the most familiar stories." --Gulf News

"Graff's collection of 700 participants' stories provides a compelling window into the kind of military maneuvers few living Americans can remember. . . . Reading about survivors' experiences in their own words proves a solemn practice." --Los Angeles Times

"If you are an intelligent person, or at the very least think you are, you have to read Garrett Graff's The Devil Reached Toward the Sky. Even if you don't read this lengthy masterpiece, you should keep it in your library to demonstrate that you are curious and literate. If you Zoom frequently, it should be one of the books on the shelves directly behind you so that viewers can register how smart you are. If you need to know something about the story itself--it's everything, and more, about the atom, the atom bomb, the Manhattan Project, and the terrifying destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This period in history has never been more relevant and frightening than it is today." --James Patterson

About the Author

Garrett M. Graff has spent two decades covering politics, technology, and national security. Today, he's a columnist for The Washington Post, where he writes on leadership, serves as the director of cyber initiatives at the Aspen Institute, and hosts the history podcast, Long Shadow, which received a 2024 Edward R. Murrow Award. The former editor of POLITICO Magazine and a longtime contributor to WIRED and CNN, he's written for publications like Esquire, Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, and Foreign Affairs, and authored nine books--including the #1 national bestseller The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11, the FBI history The Threat Matrix, Raven Rock (about the government's Cold War Doomsday plans), and the New York Times bestsellers When the Sea Came Alive (an oral history of D-Day) and Watergate: A New History, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in History.