Annotated Bibliography on Nuclear Weapons

To Read Further: Pointers to off-line resources

This is a select list sources for additional information about the Manhattan Project, Los Alamos, Trinity Site, and the nuclear age. Rather than attempt a comprehensive list, I have included works that I have looked at and given some indication of what they have to offer. I have not listed works which are presented in their entirety as e-text on this site because the bibliographic information is contained within the documents themselves.

Nuclear Weapons Physics and Technology

The Los Alamos Primer: First Lectures on How to Build An Atomic Bomb, by Robert Serber, University of California Press, 1992.

This book is approximately three times larger than the original LA-1 technical report. It contains the complete LA-1 text with additional explanation and updates. No longer available online at the Los Alamos National Laboratory Library web site. Try a local library or online bookstore.

Annotation at Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues

Critical Assembly: A Technical History of Los Alamos during the Oppenheimer Years, 1943-1945, by Lillian Hoddeson, et. al., Cambridge University Press, 1993.

This book gives the most detailed account of the technical challenges and achievements that led to the first atomic bombs. Impressive.

Annotation at Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues

U.S. Nuclear Weapons: The Secret History, by Chuck Hansen, Orion Books, 1988.

This one book tells more than any other about the workings of nuclear and thermonuclear weapons. It traces the technical improvements that resulted from the years of nuclear testing and describes the many weapons systems that were built around the nuclear warheads. Now out-of-print, the story has been updated and expanded in The Swords of Armageddon CD-ROM.

Annotation at Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues

Manhattan Project History

Manhattan: The Army and the Atomic Bomb, by Jones, Vincent C., Center of Military History, United States Army, Washington, D.C., 1985.

This book gives a comprehensive overview of the Manhattan Project. Its focus is mainly on the administrative work of the Army in over-seeing the project. It offers extensive notes and is a good place to start looking for more detailed sources. Since it is in the public domain, I have quoted from it to provide background material for this site.

Annotation at Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues

The Making of the Atomic Bomb, by Richard Rhodes, Simon & Schuster, New York, 1986.

This is by far the best book of the history leading up to the creation of the first atomic bomb. Here the discoveries, personalities, and places are presented in a detailed and readable story. Cannot be recommended too highly.

Annotation at Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues

Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb, by Richard Rhodes, Simon & Schuster, New York, 1995.

This book is less about the hydrogen bomb than it is about the years from 1945 to 1954, when the hydrogen bomb was debated and then achieved. It includes a detailed look at Soviet espionage in the Manhattan Project and at the Oppenheimer security clearance hearings.

Annotation at Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues

Los Alamos History

Critical Assembly: A Technical History of Los Alamos during the Oppenheimer Years, 1943-1945, by Lillian Hoddeson, et. al., Cambridge University Press, 1993.

This book describes in exhaustive detail the technical hurdles that had to be overcome in creating the first atomic bombs. This is perhaps the most detailed look inside wartime Los Alamos ever published.

Annotation at Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues

Trinity Site

Day of Trinity, by Lansing Lamont, Atheneum, New York, 1965 and 1985.

This book is a classic account of the Trinity atomic test.

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The Day the Sun Rose Twice, by Ferenc Morton Szasz, University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, 1984.

This excellent account of the Trinity test goes beyond the test itself to describe the aftermath from a local point of view.

Annotation at Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues