Fallout
Conspiracy, Cover-Up, and the Deceitful Case for the Atom Bomb
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Prime members: New to Audible?Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Fallout
Buy for $24.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Peter Ganim
-
By:
-
Peter Watson
About this listen
The justification for the atomic bomb was simple: it would defeat Hitler and end the Second World War faster, saving lives. The reality was different.
Fallout dismantles the conventional story of why the atom bomb was built. Peter Watson has found new documents showing that long before the Allied bomb was operational, it was clear that Germany had no atomic weapons of its own and was not likely to. The British knew this, but didn't share their knowledge with the Americans, who in turn deceived the British about the extent to which the Soviets had penetrated their plans to build and deploy the bomb.
The dark secret was that the bomb was dropped not to decisively end the war in the Pacific but to warn off Stalin's Russia, still in principle a military ally of the US and Britain. It did not bring a hot war to an abrupt end; instead it set up the terms for a Cold one to begin. Moreover, none of the scientists recruited to build the bomb had any idea that the purpose of the bomb had been secretly changed and that Russian deterrence was its new objective.
Fallout vividly reveals the story of the unnecessary building of the atomic bomb, the most destructive weapon in the world, and the long-term consequences that are still playing out to this day.
©2018 Peter Watson (P)2018 Hachette AudioListeners also enjoyed...
-
Alexander Hamilton
- By: Ron Chernow
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 35 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 24,539
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 21,264
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 21,134
Historians have long told the story of America’s birth as the triumph of Jefferson’s democratic ideals over the aristocratic intentions of Hamilton. Chernow presents an entirely different man, whose legendary ambitions were motivated not merely by self-interest but by passionate patriotism and a stubborn will to build the foundations of American prosperity and power.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
An Outstanding & Riveting Book!
- By Kevin on 03-04-05
By: Ron Chernow
-
American Prometheus
- The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer
- By: Kai Bird, Martin J. Sherwin
- Narrated by: Jeff Cummings
- Length: 26 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,653
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,723
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,735
J. Robert Oppenheimer was one of the iconic figures of the 20th century, a brilliant physicist who led the effort to build the atomic bomb but later confronted the moral consequences of scientific progress. When he proposed international controls over atomic materials, opposed the development of the hydrogen bomb, and criticized plans for a nuclear war, his ideas were anathema to powerful advocates of a massive nuclear buildup during the anti-Communist hysteria of the early 1950s.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
An American Tragedy
- By Edith on 12-13-07
By: Kai Bird, and others
-
Christendom
- The Triumph of a Religion, AD 300-1300
- By: Peter Heather
- Narrated by: Peter Heather
- Length: 23 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 26
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 25
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 25
In the fourth century AD, a new faith exploded out of Palestine. Overwhelming the paganism of Rome, and converting the Emperor Constantine in the process, it resoundingly defeated a host of other rivals. Almost a thousand years later, all of Europe was controlled by Christian rulers, and the religion, ingrained within culture and society, exercised a monolithic hold over its population. But, as Peter Heather shows in this compelling new history, there was nothing inevitable about Christendom's rise to Europe-wide dominance.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
One of the finest works of history I have ever
- By Wiregrass18 on 11-22-24
By: Peter Heather
-
Magisteria
- The Entangled Histories of Science & Religion
- By: Nicholas Spencer
- Narrated by: John Sackville
- Length: 16 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 19
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 15
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 15
The true history of science and religion is a human one. It’s about the role of religion in inspiring, and strangling, science before the scientific revolution. It’s about the sincere but eccentric faith and the quiet, creeping doubts of the most brilliant scientists in history–Galileo, Newton, Faraday, Darwin, Maxwell, Einstein. Above all it’s about the question of what it means to be human and who gets to say–a question that is more urgent in the twenty-first century than ever before.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent - much better than I expected
- By Dipam on 10-14-23
By: Nicholas Spencer
-
Command
- The Politics of Military Operations from Korea to Ukraine
- By: Lawrence Freedman
- Narrated by: Richard Burnip
- Length: 24 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 18
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 17
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 17
Using examples from a wide variety of conflicts, Lawrence Freedman shows that successful military command depends on the ability not only to use armed forces effectively, but also to understand the political context in which they are operating.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
LF remains dependable for scholarship and presentation quality
- By ronald waters on 01-15-23
-
President Garfield
- From Radical to Unifier
- By: CW Goodyear
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 17 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 90
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 85
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 85
In “the most comprehensive Garfield biography in almost fifty years” (The Wall Street Journal), C.W. Goodyear charts the life and times of one of the most remarkable Americans ever to win the Presidency. Progressive firebrand and conservative compromiser; Union war hero and founder of the first Department of Education; Supreme Court attorney and abolitionist preacher; mathematician and canalman; crooked election-fixed and clean-government champion; Congressional chieftain and gentleman-farmer; the last president to be born in a log cabin; the second to be assassinated.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A wonderful servant to the world
- By James T. Hackett on 08-15-23
By: CW Goodyear
-
Alexander Hamilton
- By: Ron Chernow
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 35 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 24,539
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 21,264
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 21,134
Historians have long told the story of America’s birth as the triumph of Jefferson’s democratic ideals over the aristocratic intentions of Hamilton. Chernow presents an entirely different man, whose legendary ambitions were motivated not merely by self-interest but by passionate patriotism and a stubborn will to build the foundations of American prosperity and power.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
An Outstanding & Riveting Book!
- By Kevin on 03-04-05
By: Ron Chernow
-
American Prometheus
- The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer
- By: Kai Bird, Martin J. Sherwin
- Narrated by: Jeff Cummings
- Length: 26 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,653
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,723
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,735
J. Robert Oppenheimer was one of the iconic figures of the 20th century, a brilliant physicist who led the effort to build the atomic bomb but later confronted the moral consequences of scientific progress. When he proposed international controls over atomic materials, opposed the development of the hydrogen bomb, and criticized plans for a nuclear war, his ideas were anathema to powerful advocates of a massive nuclear buildup during the anti-Communist hysteria of the early 1950s.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
An American Tragedy
- By Edith on 12-13-07
By: Kai Bird, and others
-
Christendom
- The Triumph of a Religion, AD 300-1300
- By: Peter Heather
- Narrated by: Peter Heather
- Length: 23 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 26
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 25
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 25
In the fourth century AD, a new faith exploded out of Palestine. Overwhelming the paganism of Rome, and converting the Emperor Constantine in the process, it resoundingly defeated a host of other rivals. Almost a thousand years later, all of Europe was controlled by Christian rulers, and the religion, ingrained within culture and society, exercised a monolithic hold over its population. But, as Peter Heather shows in this compelling new history, there was nothing inevitable about Christendom's rise to Europe-wide dominance.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
One of the finest works of history I have ever
- By Wiregrass18 on 11-22-24
By: Peter Heather
-
Magisteria
- The Entangled Histories of Science & Religion
- By: Nicholas Spencer
- Narrated by: John Sackville
- Length: 16 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 19
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 15
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 15
The true history of science and religion is a human one. It’s about the role of religion in inspiring, and strangling, science before the scientific revolution. It’s about the sincere but eccentric faith and the quiet, creeping doubts of the most brilliant scientists in history–Galileo, Newton, Faraday, Darwin, Maxwell, Einstein. Above all it’s about the question of what it means to be human and who gets to say–a question that is more urgent in the twenty-first century than ever before.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent - much better than I expected
- By Dipam on 10-14-23
By: Nicholas Spencer
-
Command
- The Politics of Military Operations from Korea to Ukraine
- By: Lawrence Freedman
- Narrated by: Richard Burnip
- Length: 24 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 18
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 17
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 17
Using examples from a wide variety of conflicts, Lawrence Freedman shows that successful military command depends on the ability not only to use armed forces effectively, but also to understand the political context in which they are operating.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
LF remains dependable for scholarship and presentation quality
- By ronald waters on 01-15-23
-
President Garfield
- From Radical to Unifier
- By: CW Goodyear
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 17 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 90
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 85
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 85
In “the most comprehensive Garfield biography in almost fifty years” (The Wall Street Journal), C.W. Goodyear charts the life and times of one of the most remarkable Americans ever to win the Presidency. Progressive firebrand and conservative compromiser; Union war hero and founder of the first Department of Education; Supreme Court attorney and abolitionist preacher; mathematician and canalman; crooked election-fixed and clean-government champion; Congressional chieftain and gentleman-farmer; the last president to be born in a log cabin; the second to be assassinated.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A wonderful servant to the world
- By James T. Hackett on 08-15-23
By: CW Goodyear
-
Valley Forge
- By: Bob Drury, Tom Clavin
- Narrated by: Jeremy Bobb
- Length: 14 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 375
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 341
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 339
Valley Forge is the riveting true story of an underdog US toppling an empire. Using new and rarely seen contemporaneous documents - and drawing on a cast of iconic characters and remarkable moments that capture the innovation and energy that led to the birth of our nation - the New York Times best-selling authors Bob Drury and Tom Clavin provide a breathtaking account of this seminal and previously undervalued moment in the battle for American independence.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Moving story about saving the Revolution
- By LEE on 11-15-18
By: Bob Drury, and others
-
Eight Days in May
- The Final Collapse of the Third Reich
- By: Volker Ullrich, Jefferson Chase - translator
- Narrated by: John McLain
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 124
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 117
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 116
On April 30, 1945, in a bunker deep beneath the Old Reich Chancellery, Adolf Hitler and his newly wedded wife, Eva Braun, killed themselves. But Nazi Germany lived on, however briefly. The subsequent eight days were among the most turbulent in history, witnessing not only the final battles of World War II and the collapse of the Wehrmacht, but the near-total disintegration of the once-mighty Third Reich.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Interesting history incompetently read
- By Oralabor Bondurant on 01-26-22
By: Volker Ullrich, and others
-
The Making of the Atomic Bomb
- 25th Anniversary Edition
- By: Richard Rhodes
- Narrated by: Holter Graham
- Length: 37 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,054
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,621
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,599
Here for the first time, in rich human, political, and scientific detail, is the complete story of how the bomb was developed, from the turn-of-the-century discovery of the vast energy locked inside the atom to the dropping of the first bombs on Japan. Few great discoveries have evolved so swiftly - or have been so misunderstood. From the theoretical discussions of nuclear energy to the bright glare of Trinity, there was a span of hardly more than 25 years.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Beware limitations of the reader
- By JFanson on 01-01-19
By: Richard Rhodes
-
First War of Physics
- The Secret History of the Atom Bomb 1939-1949
- By: Jim Baggott
- Narrated by: Mark Ashby
- Length: 17 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 85
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 78
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 75
An epic story of science and technology at the very limits of human understanding: the monumental race to build the first atomic weapons.
Rich in personality, action, confrontation, and deception, The First War of Physics is the first fully realized popular account of the race to build humankind's most destructive weapon. The book draws on declassified material, such as MI6's Farm Hall transcripts, coded Soviet messages cracked by American cryptographers in the Venona project, and interpretations by Russian scholars of documents from the Soviet archives.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
For all atom bomb and physics nerds
- By Jodie Swafford on 11-30-18
By: Jim Baggott
-
Churchill's Bomb
- How the United States Overtook Britain in the First Nuclear Arms Race
- By: Graham Farmelo
- Narrated by: Clive Chafer
- Length: 14 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 102
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 92
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 92
As award-winning biographer and science writer Graham Farmelo describes in Churchill's Bomb, the British set out to investigate the possibility of building nuclear weapons before their American colleagues. But when scientists in Britain first discovered a way to build an atomic bomb, Prime Minister Winston Churchill did not make the most of his country's lead and was slow to realize the bomb's strategic implications.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Loved it!! This was great.
- By MAC24211 on 09-08-21
By: Graham Farmelo
-
Man of the Hour
- James B. Conant, Warrior Scientist
- By: Jennet Conant
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 24 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 38
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 32
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 30
James Bryant Conant was a towering figure. He was at the center of the mammoth threats and challenges of the 20th century. As a young eminent chemist, he supervised the production of poison gas in WWI. As a controversial president of Harvard University, he was a champion of meritocracy and open admissions. As an advisor to FDR, he led the interventionist cause for US entrance in WWII.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The male American Athena
- By Craig W. on 03-01-23
By: Jennet Conant
-
A Matter of Honor
- Pearl Harbor: Betrayal, Blame, and a Family's Quest for Justice
- By: Anthony Summers, Robbyn Swan
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 12 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 46
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 42
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 42
The Japanese onslaught on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, devastated Americans and precipitated entry into World War II. In the aftermath, Admiral Husband Kimmel, commander in chief of the Pacific Fleet, was relieved of command, accused of negligence and dereliction of duty, and publicly disgraced. But the admiral defended his actions through eight investigations and for the rest of his long life. The evidence against him was less than solid.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Great information, Reads like a textbook.
- By UncleHammy on 12-13-16
By: Anthony Summers, and others
-
JFK and the Unspeakable
- Why He Died and Why It Matters
- By: James W. Douglass
- Narrated by: Pete Larkin
- Length: 22 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 990
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 854
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 859
At the height of the Cold War, JFK risked committing the greatest crime in human history: starting a nuclear war. Horrified by the specter of nuclear annihilation, Kennedy gradually turned away from his long-held Cold Warrior beliefs and toward a policy of lasting peace. But to the military and intelligence agencies in the United States, who were committed to winning the Cold War at any cost, Kennedy's change of heart was a direct threat to their power and influence.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
One Book EVERY AMERICAN Needs to Read
- By Peter on 06-09-12
-
Kissinger
- A Biography
- By: Walter Isaacson
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 34 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 943
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 810
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 811
By the time Henry Kissinger was made secretary of state in 1973, he had become, according to a Gallup poll, the most admired person in America and one of the most unlikely celebrities ever to capture the world’s imagination. Yet Kissinger was also reviled by large segments of the American public, ranging from liberal intellectuals to conservative activists. Kissinger explores the relationship between this complex man's personality and the foreign policy he pursued.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
A dissapointment
- By Mike From Mesa on 12-16-13
By: Walter Isaacson
-
The Dead Hand
- The Untold Story of the Cold War Arms Race and its Dangerous Legacy
- By: David E. Hoffman
- Narrated by: Bob Walter
- Length: 20 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,530
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,319
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,308
The Dead Hand is the suspense-filled story of the people who sought to brake the speeding locomotive of the arms race, then rushed to secure the nuclear and biological weapons left behind by the collapse of the Soviet Union—a dangerous legacy that haunts us even today.The Cold War was an epoch of massive overkill.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Eye opening
- By Brian on 11-16-10
By: David E. Hoffman
-
The Sword and the Shield
- By: Christopher Andrew, Vasilli Mitrokhin
- Narrated by: Robert Whitfield
- Length: 31 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 537
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 454
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 451
This book reveals the most complete picture ever of the KGB and its operations in the United States and Europe. It is based on an extremely top secret archive which details the full extent of its worldwide network. Christopher Andrew is professor of modern and contemporary history and chair of the history department at Cambridge University, a former visiting professor of national security at Harvard, a frequent guest lecturer at other United States universities, and a regular host of BBC radio and TV programs.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great book on the history of the KGB
- By Clydene on 05-28-12
By: Christopher Andrew, and others
-
The Doomsday Machine
- By: Daniel Ellsberg
- Narrated by: Steven Cooper
- Length: 14 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,032
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 913
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 911
The Doomsday Machine is Ellsberg's hair-raising insider's account of the most dangerous arms buildup in the history of civilization, whose legacy - and renewal under the Obama administration - threatens the very survival of humanity. It is scarcely possible to estimate the true dangers of our present nuclear policies without penetrating the secret realities of the nuclear strategy of the late Eisenhower and early Kennedy years, when Ellsberg had high-level access to them.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fascinating Insider Story
- By Terry Masters on 12-07-17
By: Daniel Ellsberg
Related to this topic
-
First War of Physics
- The Secret History of the Atom Bomb 1939-1949
- By: Jim Baggott
- Narrated by: Mark Ashby
- Length: 17 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 85
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 78
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 75
An epic story of science and technology at the very limits of human understanding: the monumental race to build the first atomic weapons.
Rich in personality, action, confrontation, and deception, The First War of Physics is the first fully realized popular account of the race to build humankind's most destructive weapon. The book draws on declassified material, such as MI6's Farm Hall transcripts, coded Soviet messages cracked by American cryptographers in the Venona project, and interpretations by Russian scholars of documents from the Soviet archives.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
For all atom bomb and physics nerds
- By Jodie Swafford on 11-30-18
By: Jim Baggott
-
Robert Oppenheimer
- A Life Inside the Center
- By: Ray Monk
- Narrated by: Michael Goldstrom
- Length: 35 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 359
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 304
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 301
Robert Oppenheimer was among the most brilliant and divisive of men. As head of the Los Alamos Laboratory, he oversaw the successful effort to beat the Nazis in the race to develop the first atomic bomb – a breakthrough that was to have eternal ramifications for mankind and that made Oppenheimer the “Father of the Atomic Bomb.” But with his actions leading up to that great achievement, he also set himself on a dangerous collision course with Senator Joseph McCarthy and his witch-hunters. In Robert Oppenheimer: A Life Inside the Center, Ray Monk, author of peerless biographies of Ludwig Wittgenstein and Bertrand Russell, goes deeper than any previous biographer in the quest to solve the enigma of Oppenheimer’s motivations and his complex personality.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A comprehensive biography
- By Jean on 10-17-14
By: Ray Monk
-
Dark Sun
- The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb
- By: Richard Rhodes
- Narrated by: Richard Rhodes
- Length: 6 hrs
- Abridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 469
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 396
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 398
Richard Rhodes' landmark history of the atomic bomb won the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award and the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award. Now, in this majestic new masterpiece of history, science, and politics, he tells for the first time the secret story of how and why the hydrogen bomb was made, and traces the path by which this supreme artifact of 20th-century technology became the defining issue of the Cold War.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Abridged??
- By Delano on 04-17-13
By: Richard Rhodes
-
Churchill's Bomb
- How the United States Overtook Britain in the First Nuclear Arms Race
- By: Graham Farmelo
- Narrated by: Clive Chafer
- Length: 14 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 102
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 92
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 92
As award-winning biographer and science writer Graham Farmelo describes in Churchill's Bomb, the British set out to investigate the possibility of building nuclear weapons before their American colleagues. But when scientists in Britain first discovered a way to build an atomic bomb, Prime Minister Winston Churchill did not make the most of his country's lead and was slow to realize the bomb's strategic implications.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Loved it!! This was great.
- By MAC24211 on 09-08-21
By: Graham Farmelo
-
Racing for the Bomb
- The True Story of General Leslie R. Groves, the Man Behind the Birth of the Atomic Age
- By: Robert S. Norris
- Narrated by: Peter Johnson
- Length: 23 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 93
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 80
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 78
Revealed for the first time in Racing for the Bomb, Groves played a crucial and decisive role in the planning, timing, and targeting of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki missions. Norris offers new insights into the complex and controversial questions surrounding the decision to drop the bomb in Japan and Groves' actions during World War II, which had a lasting imprint on the nuclear age and the Cold War that followed.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Fascinating
- By Jean on 04-22-15
By: Robert S. Norris
-
The Angel
- The Egyptian Spy Who Saved Israel
- By: Uri Bar-Joseph
- Narrated by: Neil Shah
- Length: 11 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 63
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 55
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 55
As the son-in-law of Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser and a close advisor to his successor, Anwar Sadat, Ashraf Marwan had access to the deepest secrets of the country's government. But he himself had a secret: he was a spy for the Mossad, Israel's intelligence service. Under the codename "The Angel", Marwan turned Egypt into an open book for the Israeli intelligence services and, by alerting the Mossad in advance of the joint Egyptian-Syrian attack on Yom Kippur, saved Israel from a devastating defeat.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Buena biografía
- By Rony M on 07-05-20
By: Uri Bar-Joseph
-
First War of Physics
- The Secret History of the Atom Bomb 1939-1949
- By: Jim Baggott
- Narrated by: Mark Ashby
- Length: 17 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 85
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 78
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 75
An epic story of science and technology at the very limits of human understanding: the monumental race to build the first atomic weapons.
Rich in personality, action, confrontation, and deception, The First War of Physics is the first fully realized popular account of the race to build humankind's most destructive weapon. The book draws on declassified material, such as MI6's Farm Hall transcripts, coded Soviet messages cracked by American cryptographers in the Venona project, and interpretations by Russian scholars of documents from the Soviet archives.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
For all atom bomb and physics nerds
- By Jodie Swafford on 11-30-18
By: Jim Baggott
-
Robert Oppenheimer
- A Life Inside the Center
- By: Ray Monk
- Narrated by: Michael Goldstrom
- Length: 35 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 359
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 304
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 301
Robert Oppenheimer was among the most brilliant and divisive of men. As head of the Los Alamos Laboratory, he oversaw the successful effort to beat the Nazis in the race to develop the first atomic bomb – a breakthrough that was to have eternal ramifications for mankind and that made Oppenheimer the “Father of the Atomic Bomb.” But with his actions leading up to that great achievement, he also set himself on a dangerous collision course with Senator Joseph McCarthy and his witch-hunters. In Robert Oppenheimer: A Life Inside the Center, Ray Monk, author of peerless biographies of Ludwig Wittgenstein and Bertrand Russell, goes deeper than any previous biographer in the quest to solve the enigma of Oppenheimer’s motivations and his complex personality.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A comprehensive biography
- By Jean on 10-17-14
By: Ray Monk
-
Dark Sun
- The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb
- By: Richard Rhodes
- Narrated by: Richard Rhodes
- Length: 6 hrs
- Abridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 469
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 396
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 398
Richard Rhodes' landmark history of the atomic bomb won the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award and the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award. Now, in this majestic new masterpiece of history, science, and politics, he tells for the first time the secret story of how and why the hydrogen bomb was made, and traces the path by which this supreme artifact of 20th-century technology became the defining issue of the Cold War.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Abridged??
- By Delano on 04-17-13
By: Richard Rhodes
-
Churchill's Bomb
- How the United States Overtook Britain in the First Nuclear Arms Race
- By: Graham Farmelo
- Narrated by: Clive Chafer
- Length: 14 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 102
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 92
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 92
As award-winning biographer and science writer Graham Farmelo describes in Churchill's Bomb, the British set out to investigate the possibility of building nuclear weapons before their American colleagues. But when scientists in Britain first discovered a way to build an atomic bomb, Prime Minister Winston Churchill did not make the most of his country's lead and was slow to realize the bomb's strategic implications.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Loved it!! This was great.
- By MAC24211 on 09-08-21
By: Graham Farmelo
-
Racing for the Bomb
- The True Story of General Leslie R. Groves, the Man Behind the Birth of the Atomic Age
- By: Robert S. Norris
- Narrated by: Peter Johnson
- Length: 23 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 93
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 80
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 78
Revealed for the first time in Racing for the Bomb, Groves played a crucial and decisive role in the planning, timing, and targeting of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki missions. Norris offers new insights into the complex and controversial questions surrounding the decision to drop the bomb in Japan and Groves' actions during World War II, which had a lasting imprint on the nuclear age and the Cold War that followed.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Fascinating
- By Jean on 04-22-15
By: Robert S. Norris
-
The Angel
- The Egyptian Spy Who Saved Israel
- By: Uri Bar-Joseph
- Narrated by: Neil Shah
- Length: 11 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 63
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 55
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 55
As the son-in-law of Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser and a close advisor to his successor, Anwar Sadat, Ashraf Marwan had access to the deepest secrets of the country's government. But he himself had a secret: he was a spy for the Mossad, Israel's intelligence service. Under the codename "The Angel", Marwan turned Egypt into an open book for the Israeli intelligence services and, by alerting the Mossad in advance of the joint Egyptian-Syrian attack on Yom Kippur, saved Israel from a devastating defeat.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Buena biografía
- By Rony M on 07-05-20
By: Uri Bar-Joseph
-
Defend the Realm
- The Authorized History of MI5
- By: Christopher Andrew
- Narrated by: Robin Sachs
- Length: 39 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 101
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 68
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 69
An unprecedented publishing event: to mark the centenary of its foundation, the British Security Service, MI5, has for the first time opened its archives to an independent historian. The book reveals the precise role of the Security Service in 20th-century British history, from its foundation by Captain Kell of the British Army in October 1909, through two world wars, up to and including its present roles in counterespionage and counterterrorism.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A very throrough and impartial history.
- By Matthew on 12-01-09
-
Spymaster
- Startling Cold War Revelations of a Soviet KGB Chief
- By: Tennent H. Bagley
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
- Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 771
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 691
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 689
From the dark days of World War II through the Cold War, Sergey A. Kondrashev was a major player in Russia’s notorious KGB espionage apparatus. Rising through its ranks through hard work and keen understanding of how the spy and political games are played, he “handled” American and British defectors, recruited Western operatives as double agents, served as a ranking officer at the East Berlin and Vienna KGB bureaus, and tackled special assignments from the Kremlin.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
An brilliant personal Cold War perspective
- By Iamnotaspy on 01-09-15
-
Hitler's Scientists
- Science, War, and the Devil's Pact
- By: John Cornwell
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 6 hrs and 28 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 134
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 62
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 63
When Hitler came to power in the 1930s, Germany had led the world in science, mathematics, and technology for nearly four decades. But while the fact that Hitler swiftly pressed Germany's scientific prowess into the service of a brutal, racist, xenophobic ideology is well known, few realize that German scientists had knowingly broken international agreements and basic codes of morality to fashion deadly weapons even before World War I.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent due to great content and reader
- By Dave on 04-12-04
By: John Cornwell
-
Big Science
- Ernest Lawrence and the Invention That Launched the Military-Industrial Complex
- By: Michael Hiltzik
- Narrated by: Bob Saouer
- Length: 14 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 117
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 102
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 101
Since the 1930s, the scale of scientific endeavors has grown exponentially. The birth of Big Science can be traced to Berkeley, California, nearly nine decades ago, when a resourceful young scientist pondered his new invention and declared, "I'm going to be famous!" Ernest Orlando Lawrence's cyclotron would revolutionize nuclear physics, but that was only the beginning of its impact.This is the incredible story of how one invention changed the world and of the man principally responsible for it all. Michael Hiltzik tells the riveting full story here for the first time.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
An informative and thought-provoking book
- By Jean on 08-23-15
By: Michael Hiltzik
-
Burning the Sky
- Operation Argus and the Untold Story of the Cold War Nuclear Tests in Outer Space
- By: Mark Wolverton
- Narrated by: John Lescault
- Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 401
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 349
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 346
After the Soviet Union proved to the United States that it possessed an operational intercontinental ballistic missile with the launch of Sputnik in October 1957, the world watched anxiously as the two superpowers engaged in a game of nuclear one-upmanship. Amid this rising tension, eccentric physicist Nicholas Christofilos brought forth an outlandish, albeit ingenious, idea to defend the US from a Soviet attack: detonating nuclear warheads in space to create an artificial radiation belt that would fry incoming ICBMs. Known as Operation Argus, this plan is the most secret and riskiest experiment in history, and classified details of these nuclear tests have been long obscured.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Extraordinary interesting history
- By Magnus Almgren on 10-23-20
By: Mark Wolverton
-
The Hawk and the Dove
- Paul Nitze, George Kennan, and the History of the Cold War
- By: Nicholas Thompson
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 15 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 78
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 54
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 55
Only two Americans held positions of great influence throughout the Cold War; ironically, they were the chief advocates for the opposing strategies for winning---and surviving---that harrowing conflict. Both men came to power during World War II, reached their professional peaks during the Cold War's most frightening moments, and fought epic political battles that spanned decades.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Two outstanding people in the US Government
- By Nina Donnard on 11-05-09
-
The Dead Hand
- The Untold Story of the Cold War Arms Race and its Dangerous Legacy
- By: David E. Hoffman
- Narrated by: Bob Walter
- Length: 20 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,530
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,319
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,308
The Dead Hand is the suspense-filled story of the people who sought to brake the speeding locomotive of the arms race, then rushed to secure the nuclear and biological weapons left behind by the collapse of the Soviet Union—a dangerous legacy that haunts us even today.The Cold War was an epoch of massive overkill.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Eye opening
- By Brian on 11-16-10
By: David E. Hoffman
-
Kissinger: Volume I
- 1923-1968: The Idealist
- By: Niall Ferguson
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 34 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 258
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 229
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 228
No American statesman has been as revered and as reviled as Henry Kissinger. Once hailed as "Super-K" - the "indispensable man" whose advice has been sought by every president from Kennedy to Obama - he has also been hounded by conspiracy theorists, scouring his every "telcon" for evidence of Machiavellian malfeasance. Yet as Niall Ferguson shows in this magisterial biography, the idea of Kissinger as the ruthless arch-realist is based on a profound misunderstanding.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Riveting
- By Jean on 11-10-15
By: Niall Ferguson
-
The Doomsday Machine
- By: Daniel Ellsberg
- Narrated by: Steven Cooper
- Length: 14 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,032
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 913
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 911
The Doomsday Machine is Ellsberg's hair-raising insider's account of the most dangerous arms buildup in the history of civilization, whose legacy - and renewal under the Obama administration - threatens the very survival of humanity. It is scarcely possible to estimate the true dangers of our present nuclear policies without penetrating the secret realities of the nuclear strategy of the late Eisenhower and early Kennedy years, when Ellsberg had high-level access to them.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fascinating Insider Story
- By Terry Masters on 12-07-17
By: Daniel Ellsberg
-
Beyond Uncertainty
- Heisenberg, Quantum Physics, and the Bomb
- By: David C. Cassidy
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 22 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 70
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 59
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 59
Since the fall of the Soviet Union, long-suppressed information has emerged on Heisenberg’s role in the Nazi atomic bomb project. In Beyond Uncertainty, Cassidy interprets this and other previously unknown material within the context of his vast research and tackles the vexing questions of a scientist’s personal responsibility and guilt when serving an abhorrent military regime.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Well done!
- By David on 12-31-14
By: David C. Cassidy
-
At the Center of the Storm
- My Years at the CIA
- By: George Tenet
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 18 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 412
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 187
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 185
In the whirlwind of accusations and recriminations that has attended the post 9/11 world, one man's vital testimony has been conspicuously absent. Candid and compelling, At the Center of the Storm is George Tenet's memoir of his life at the CIA - a revelatory look at the inner workings of America's top intelligence agency and its dealings with national leaders at home and abroad.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Brilliant!
- By Karen on 05-05-07
By: George Tenet
-
The Making of the Atomic Bomb
- 25th Anniversary Edition
- By: Richard Rhodes
- Narrated by: Holter Graham
- Length: 37 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,054
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,621
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,599
Here for the first time, in rich human, political, and scientific detail, is the complete story of how the bomb was developed, from the turn-of-the-century discovery of the vast energy locked inside the atom to the dropping of the first bombs on Japan. Few great discoveries have evolved so swiftly - or have been so misunderstood. From the theoretical discussions of nuclear energy to the bright glare of Trinity, there was a span of hardly more than 25 years.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Beware limitations of the reader
- By JFanson on 01-01-19
By: Richard Rhodes
What listeners say about Fallout
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall3 out of 5 stars
-
Performance3 out of 5 stars
-
Story3 out of 5 stars
- David A
- 10-02-18
Fallout
The History part wasn’t bad but the conclusions seemed somewhat whimsical or just ridiculous depending on your point off view.
The degree of spin and gross historical omissions the Author needed to make his argument is staggering. I had to listen to parts several times just to make sure I heard it right. His conclusions go against everything I’ve read on this topic in the past and everything I’ve read or experienced firsthand on human nature. Conspiracy junkies will no doubt add this to their collection.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful