Hitler's Atomic Bomb: History, Legend, and the Twin Legacies of Auschwitz and Hiroshima

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Mark Walker (Union College, New York)

Hitler's Atomic Bomb

History, Legend, and the Twin Legacies of Auschwitz and Hiroshima

Mark Walker (Union College, New York)

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English

Cambridge University Press
18 July 2024

European history; 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000; Second World War; Nuclear weapons; History of science

Who were the German scientists who worked on atomic bombs during World War II for Hitler's regime? How did they justify themselves afterwards? Examining the global influence of the German uranium project and postwar reactions to the scientists involved, Mark Walker explores the narratives surrounding 'Hitler's bomb'. The global impacts of this project were cataclysmic. Credible reports of German developments spurred the American Manhattan Project, the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and in turn the Soviet efforts. After the war these scientists' work was overshadowed by the twin shocks of Auschwitz and Hiroshima. Hitler's Atomic Bomb sheds light on the postwar criticism and subsequent rehabilitation of the German scientists, including the controversial legend of Werner Heisenberg and Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker's visit to occupied Copenhagen in 1941. This scientifically accurate but non-technical history examines the impact of German efforts to harness nuclear fission, and the surrounding debates and legends.

By: Mark Walker (Union College New York)
Imprint: Cambridge University Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 236mm, Width: 159mm, Spine: 25mm
Weight: 670g
ISBN: 9781009479288
ISBN 10: 1009479288
Pages: 380
Publication Date: 18 July 2024
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Introduction; Part I. The Bomb: 1. Farm hall; 2. Nuclear fission; 3. Lightning war; 4. Selling uranium; 5. Total war; 6. The War is Lost; Part II. Living with the Bomb; 7. Oversimplifications; 8. Compromising with Hitler; 9. Rehabilitation; 10. Copenhagen; Conclusion; Epilogue. The historian as historical actor.

Mark Walker is the John Bigelow Professor of History at Union College, Schenectady, New York. His research interests include twentieth-century science, particularly science and technology under National Socialism. Previous publications include The Kaiser Wilhelm Society during National Socialism (Cambridge, 2009), and The German Physical Society in the Third Reich: Physicists between Autonomy and Accomodation (Cambridge, 2012).

Reviews for Hitler's Atomic Bomb: History, Legend, and the Twin Legacies of Auschwitz and Hiroshima

'Hitler's Atomic Bomb is a masterful account of the German nuclear program in history and mythology. Based on the latest research, Walker demonstrates that Nazi Germany never had the resources to build a bomb, but that possibility haunted and divided physicists long after the war.' Michael J. Neufeld, author of Von Braun: Dreamer of Space, Engineer of War 'In the most comprehensive history yet of the German wartime nuclear fission project, Mark Walker masterfully explores the origins of the project and its failure to achieve an atomic bomb; the scientists' difficulties and dilemmas encountered before, during and after the Third Reich; and the valuable lessons for us all.' David Cassidy, author of Beyond Uncertainty: Heisenberg, Quantum Physics, and the Bomb 'There's more to the story of Hitler's scientists than whether they knew how to build an atomic bomb. They navigated the politics of the Third Reich, kept working as their world collapsed, and later tried to rebuild their reputations. Mark Walker weighs in on this controversial history and offers a scathing portrait of science under National Socialism.' Jacob Darwin Hamblin, author of The Wretched Atom: America's Global Gamble with Peaceful Nuclear Technology