Brotherhood of the Bomb is an outstanding book on many of the individuals responsible during the Manhattan Project for the creation of the first atomic bomb and later the hydrogen bomb as well as the endless debates on the use of atomic energy and the desire to increase or eliminate testing and the decision to strip Robert Oppenheimer of his security clearance.

Many of the people in the book are well known to us who have read on the scientific community of the bomb at the time. The book revolves around Robert Oppenheimer, Ernest O. Lawrence, General Leslie R. Groves, Edward Teller, and later after the development of the bomb, Lewis Strauss, the driving force behind the hearing to strip Robert Oppenheimer of his security clearance.

The book discusses the development and use of the atomic bomb and, later, the development of the hydrogen bomb, the essence of the book is more about the personal relationships, dynamics, and motivations of this brotherhood of the bomb. I strongly recommend this book and give it a strong 4-star rating. If you are looking for a book more closely aligned query the development of the bomb I recommend Richard Rhodes, The Making of the Atomic Bomb or Kai Bird's American Prometheus, but for a book about the personal dynamics of these individuals this is the book to read. ( )

Herken's volume has both strengths and weaknesses. He is better on drawing out the drama in developing an ultimate weapon, the complexity of forces between the government, academia, the individual characteristics of the primary initiators, and the relationships between the creators. He seems to reliably chronicle the relationship between the tangled lives of the creators. On the other hand, he does not seem able to tease out the seemingly contradictory position that leftists created the most destructive weapon in humankind.

How did Oppenheimer become a leftist? Herken chronicles his activities, he demonstrates the disagreements among his staff, the more radical nature of his brother's leftism, but Herken leaves unexplained Oppenheimer's biographical details that may indicate why the Oppenheimer's developed confirmed radical notions. According to Herken, Oppenheimer experienced pangs of conscience following the Hiroshima and Nagasaki blasts, but Oppenheimer had already associated with, and attended Communist Party functions. Herken fails to explain the tangled relationship between the pre-blast Oppenheimer and his subsequent brand of leftist pacifism. And, Oppenheimer's brother Frank early on was a confirmed radical but we do not find out what occurred in the Oppenheimer family home that resulted in both Robert's and Frank's variety of leftism. The most we left with are inadequate explanations arising from the Oppenheimer's younger development as a product of the Ethical culture in their home and adult friendships with Communist sympathizers, particularly with Haakon Chevalier.

The strongest evidence against Oppenheimer, which led to the decision to deny him a security clearance, is the "Chevalier incident." Chevalier seems to have done no more than approach Oppenheimer on the behalf of sympathizers against the Franco regime in Spain. Although Oppenheimer associated with and knew Communists he did little more than discuss, or lend a sympathetic ear to those inclined to oppose Fascism during the pre-War period. Herken fails to successfully elucidate these crucial aspects of Oppenheimer's life work and political development. It reads rather dryly as a recitation of facts as opposed to a clearly written exposition of Oppenheimer, Lawrence, and Teller.

Interesting read but little material that hadn't been covered elsewhere. ( )