We Were There Books
Reviewed by Edward Garboczi
The U.S.–British Manhattan Project during World War II was an intense effort to develop an atomic bomb before Hitler succeeded in making one. Essential to this effort were a number of brilliant physicists who had emigrated to the United States to escape persecution under Hitler and Mussolini. Among them was Enrico Fermi, a brilliant Italian physicist equally skilled in experimental and theoretical science. He fled Italy because his wife, Laura, was Jewish. Fermi played a crucial role in the work in Chicago, where the first controlled nuclear fission chain reaction was demonstrated in late 1942. An uncontrolled nuclear fission chain reaction is what makes an atomic bomb. A controlled nuclear chain reaction gives us atomic reactors, which power our warships, submarines, and about 20% of the electrical needs of the U.S. economy. These reactors also provide the radioisotopes that are so important in medicine and industry. We Were There at the Opening of the Atomic Era focuses on telling the exciting story of this work in Chicago during World War II but also addresses the broader story of the first atomic bomb and the development of nuclear power, all through the eyes of a teenage boy who helps in the work.

Read the full review on Plumfield Moms

We Were There at the Opening of the Atomic Era
Reviewed by Sherry Early
If you are interested in the events and people surrounding the Manhattan Project and the making, testing, and use of the atomic bomb, I would suggest you find a copy of this novel for a 1960-ish perspective on the project, its genesis, and aftermath

Read the full review on Semicolon