The Day the Sun Rose Twice - (Story of the Trinity Site Nuclear Explosion, July 16, 1945) by Ferenc Morton Szasz (Paperback)

About the Book

The prize-winning history of the Manhattan Project.

Book Synopsis

Winner of the Western History Association's Robert G. Athearn Award for outstanding book on the twentieth-century American West

Just before dawn on July 16, 1945, the world's first nuclear bomb was detonated at Trinity Site in an isolated stretch of the central New Mexico desert. It may have been the single most important event of the twentieth century. The Day the Sun Rose Twice tells the fascinating story of the events leading up to this first test explosion, the characters and roles of the people involved, and the aftermath of the bomb's successful demonstration.

With J. Robert Oppenheimer, the "father of the atomic bomb," at last getting his Hollywood close-up in Christopher Nolan's new blockbuster film Oppenheimer, readers can discover the background behind the world's first atomic blast in Ferenc Morton Szasz's award-winning history. "Tightly focused, lucidly written, and thoroughly researched," according to the New York Times Book Review, the book provides "a valuable introduction to how our nuclear dilemma began."

From the Back Cover

'In this tightly focused, lucidly written and thoroughly researched book, Ferenc Morton Szasz, a professor of history at the University of New Mexico, describes the events, personalities and scientific processes that led to the detonation of the first atomic bomb in an isolated stretch of New Mexican desert...' ---New York Times Book Review

Review Quotes

"A thorough and well-written history of the Trinity Site nuclear explosion, the culmination of the work of the longhairs of Los Alamos. . a flawless and fascinating read, the definitive book on the subject."--Moab Times-Independent

"May be the definitive account of the days and hours leading up to the first nuclear explosion in history and the legacy it left. He vividly reconstructs the story: the industrious atmosphere of the scientists and technicians; the grave considerations of those making key decisions; the sense of wonder, and twinges of conscience, at what had been achieved."--Los Angeles Times

"This tightly focused, lucidly written and thoroughly researched book. . . describes the events, personalities and scientific processes that led to the detonation of the first atomic bomb in an isolated stretch of New Mexican desert. . . . Mr. Szasz provides fascinating details. . . . The Day the Sun Rose Twice is concise and cogent, a valuable introduction to how our nuclear dilemma began."--New York Times Book Review