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by lutusp
4274 days ago
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> Hyperbolic? Well, it is right at the beginning of The Making of the Atomic Bomb, and it's Rhodes' hook used to introduce the bigger story. Then I retract my comment (too late to edit it) -- Rhodes' book is first-rate, one of the best on its topic. I've enjoyed Rhodes' writing on this topic immensely, and I can't recommend it too highly. I didn't realize the comment came from that book (I found it in an online Szilárd biography). This is one of my all-time favorite books, along with its sequel. |
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With TMAB he had the luxury of being allowed to paint a huge, sweeping story. I felt that Dark Sun suffered a little from not having the same width of canvas; it has to deal with a lot of different events and concerns, from the Rosenbergs to Oppenheimer's trial. But it's still a great book.
Speaking of which, I found Eric Schlosser's "Command and Control" to be horribly written in comparison. The writing is uneven and sloppy, and the way he jumps between two different stories (the Damascus incident and then the story of nuclear weapons) doesn't work at all. If I'm reading a (if not from a literary point of view, then at least factually) fascinating depiction of a nuclear incident, I don't want it to stop every few pages because the author wants to backtrack and tell me about the history of nuclear weapons. It's unfortunate, because the history the book tries to depict is fascinating.
Anyway, I wonder if Rhodes' other writings are as good?