First published 2017
New York Times bestselling author Jennet Conant examines the life of her grandfather, James Bryant Conant, one of the twentieth century's most influential yet conflicted figures. Conant supervised poison gas production during World War I as a young chemist. He served as Harvard's president, championing merit-based admissions. As FDR's advisor, he pushed for American entry into World War II. During the war, he directed the Manhattan Project's administration and oversaw atomic bomb development, advocating for its use against Hiroshima. Later, he opposed the hydrogen bomb and spent his remaining years promoting international atomic weapons control. Conant draws on hundreds of documents, diaries, and interviews with Manhattan Project scientists, Harvard colleagues, and family members, including her father. She reveals the personal costs of these momentous decisions and explores the guilt and regret experienced by those who created and deployed nuclear weapons. The book provides an intimate perspective on chemical weapons use, the atomic bomb decision, Oppenheimer's downfall, and Cold War policy formation.
Genres: history, 20th-century, non-fiction, biography-memoir, academic, american-history
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: family-secrets, personal-cost
Setting: Harvard, Hiroshima
Period: Cold War, World War I, World War II
608 pages · Hardcover · Simon & Schuster
Content warnings: death, violence