• Alperovitz, Gar. The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1995).

  Argues that the dropping of the atomic bomb on Japan was unnecessary because the Japanese were close to surrendering.

• Bartimus, Tad, and Scott McCartney. Trinity's Children: Living Along America's Nuclear Highway (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1991).

  A look at the nuclear weapons industry that grew up in America after Trinity.

• Blow, Michael. The History of the Atomic Bomb (New York: American Heritage Publishing Co., 1968).

  A solid account, with lots of effective photographs.

• Boyer, Paul. Fallout: A Historian Reflects on America's Half-Century Encounter with Nuclear Weapons (Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1998).

  A collection of essays and articles commenting on such topics as the movie "Dr. Strangelove," John Hersey's book Hiroshima and the Enola Gay controversy at the Smithsonian Institution.

• Bradley, John, ed. Atomic Ghost: Poets Respond to the Nuclear Age (Minneapolis: Coffee House Press, 1995).

  Includes David Ray's poem "For Harry S Truman in Hell."

• Brown, Anthony Cave, and Charles B. MacDonald, eds. The Secret History of the Atomic Bomb (New York: The Dial Press, 1977).

  Contains a section by David Hawkins dealing with Los Alamos and the Trinity Test. Also includes the government document known as the Smyth Report.

• Deitch, Kenneth M., ed. The Manhattan Project: A Secret Wartime Mission (Lowell, Mass.: Discovery Enterprises, 1995).

  A collection of articles and book excerpts, including the account of Col. Paul W. Tibbets, Jr., of the bombing of Hiroshima.

• Fermi, Rachel, and Esther Samra Picturing the Bomb: Photographs from the Secret World of the Manhattan Project (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1995).

  Includes photos from scrapbooks of residents of the Los Alamos, Oak Ridge and Hanford Projects. Also a long chapter (with photos) on Trinity.

• Goodchild, Peter. J. Robert Oppenheimer: Shatterer of Worlds (New York: Fromm International, 1985).

  A detailed examination of the life and work of the "Father of the A-Bomb." Includes numerous photos of "Oppie."

• Groves, Leslie R. Now It Can Be Told: The Story of the Manhattan Project (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1962).

  The Army general in charge of the Manhattan Project gives his personal account of the endeavor, including his witnessing of the Trinity test.

• Hansen, Chuck. U.S. Nuclear Weapons: The Secret History (Arlington, Texas: Aerofax, 1988).

  Lots of "insider" stuff on nuclear and thermonuclear weapons. Many photos of bomb tests, plus insightful explanations of the workings of complex weapons systems.

• Harper, Stephen. Miracle of Deliverance: The Case for the Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (New York: Stein and Day, 1986).

  Argues that the Allies were correct to use the atomic bomb. A "miracle of deliverance" was the phrase Winston Churchill used to refer to the new weapon.

• Hirschfelder, J. O., et al., eds, The Effects of Atomic Weapons (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1950).

  A rather technical report released by the government, with graphs showing characteristics of the shock wave from an atomic explosion, percentage of survivors as a function of radiation dosages, etc.

• Hoddeson, Lillian, and others. Critical Assembly: A Technical History of Los Alamos during the Oppenheimer Years, 1943-1945 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993).

  Lots of detail on metallurgy, lens molds, detonators, explosive charges, and the mysteries of implosion.

• Jette, Eleanor. Inside Box 1663 (Los Alamos, N.M.: Los Alamos Historical Society, 1977).

  An account of daily life at Los Alamos during the war -- replacing the linoleum, taking the children for horseback rides, and presenting the Hallelujah Chorus at Christmas.

• Jones, Vincent C. Manhattan: The Army and the Atomic Bomb (Washington, D.C.: Center of Military History, 1985).

  The Army's official history. Heavy on organizational and administrative aspects.

• Kanon, Joseph. Los Alamos (New York: Broadway Books, 1997).

  A murder mystery set in Los Alamos, with scenes at the Trinity Site.

• Lamont, Lansing. Day of Trinity (New York: Atheneum, 1965).

  A book focusing on the Trinity site and test, and the people involved.

• McPhee, John. The Curve of Binding Energy (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1974).

  The story of Theodore B. Taylor, a post-Trinity bomb designer who created the Davy Crockett, an atomic bomb about two feet long.

• Morrow, Bradford. Trinity Fields (New York: Viking, 1995).

  A novel about two men born in Los Alamos in 1944, the sons of Manhattan Project scientists.

• Perrine, Toni A. Film and the Nuclear Age: Representing Cultural Anxiety (New York: Garland Publishing Co., 1998).

  Analyzes American commercial motion pictures dealing with atomic weapons and nuclear disaster. Films discussed at some length include "Fat Man and Little Boy," "Desert Bloom," "On the Beach," "Them," "Until the End of the World" and "Broken Arrow."

• Rhodes, Richard. The Making of the Atomic Bomb (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1986).

  An 886-page, Pulitzer Prize-winning volume beginning with Leo Szilard's idea for a nuclear chain reaction in 1933 and ending with the nuclear stalemate of the Cold War in 1957.

• Rosenthal, Debra. At the Heart of the Bomb: The Dangerous Allure of Weapons Work (Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1990).

  Describes the life and thinking of present-day weapons designers at the Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories.

• Segre, Claudio G. Atoms, Bombs & Eskimo Kisses: A Memoir of Father and Son (New York: Viking, 1995).

  A memoir by the son of Nobel Prize-winning scientist Emilio Segre. Describes growing up in Los Alamos.

• Seidel, Robert W. Los Alamos and the Development of the Atomic Bomb (Los Alamos, N.M.: Otowi Crossing Press, 1993).

  A history of the bomb project, based on columns from the Los Alamos National Laboratory "Newsbulletin."

• Smith, Martin Cruz. Stallion Gate (New York: Ballantine, 1986).

  A novel set in Los Alamos and at the Trinity Site.

• Smyth, Henry DeWolf. Atomic Energy for Military Purposes: The Official Report of the Atomic Bomb under the auspices of the United States Government, 1940-45 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1945).

  Mostly a technical account of the chemistry and physics of atomic weapons development. Includes an appendix: "War Department Release on New Mexico Test, July 16, 1945."

• Stern, Philip M. The Oppenheimer Case (New York: Harper & Row, 1969).

  Focuses on the security investigation and trial of Oppenheimer several years after the Trinity test.

• Szasz, Ferenc Morton. The Day the Sun Rose Twice: The Story of the Trinity Site Nuclear Explosion, July 16, 1945 (Albuquerque, N.M.: University of New Mexico Press, 1984).

  A book-length treatment of the Trinity test, the events leading up to it, and its aftermath. Very informative.

• Wyden, Peter H.. Day One: Before Hiroshima and After (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1984).

  Argues that scientists did not anticipate the deadly effects of nuclear radiation before the bombing of Hiroshima. Devotes a chapter to the Trinity test.

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