"The bomb," not fire alone, is the end for which the gods punished Prometheus, and when Robert J. Oppenheimer transformed fire into nuclear fire, he became Prometheus and for his sins had his moral certitude eaten by the eagle of America's security establishment. If taking history in the trappings of myth isn't your cup of tea, this isn't the book for you, but if you can see the work of myth through history, you may have an interesting time.

Author James Thackara has taken the last great story of the 20th century, the development of the Atomic Bomb, and recast it as myth. "America's Children," comes alive with the struggle between good and evil that lays at the reason for the Atomic Bomb's creation, use, and aftermath of science, violence, and industry that has resulted in a stockpile of bombs magnitudes more powerful than the first.

The scientists thought they were fighting the good fight. The US had to beat Hitler to the atomic goods, and under Oppenheimer's direction the brilliant boys of Los Alamos did just that. Though the bomb came too late to win the war with Germany, and was of questionable value in ending the war with Japan, it was dropped anyway. Its power was kept from the American public, but Oppenheimer knew what he had wrought, and though he was horrified, he had discovered the true nature of his creation, and we discover the true nature of the creators, at Trinity, the testing site. No one knew what would happen once this bomb exploded. Would it blow a hole into Alamagordo, take out Albuquerque, or rend nature and destroy the earth? As it was, it was the greatest explosion ever created, and the test was the greatest gamble science had ever taken, and its jackpot is a world under constant threat. Mr. Thackara, gives us a creator undone by his creation, and asks all the right questions about the morality of "pure" science, and of waging peace through the threat, and use of violence.

As has been written about Mr. Thackara's magnum opus, "The Book of Kings," there is a smaller book that could have been released from the 300 plus pages of "America's Children," but even as it is there are ideas, and excellent pieces, (the test at Trinity, Oppenheimer's security hearing, the machinations of Dr. Teller) that make "America's Children" well worth reading.

A fascinating look at the life of Robert Oppenheimer as a person, rather than as the "father" of the atomic bomb. Oppenheimer was chosen by General Groves to lead the development of an atomic bomb in 1943, a highly secret undertaking in the midst of World War II that brought together at Los Alamos a unique collection of the world's top physicists. Oppie, his wife Kitty, brother Frank and many friends were sympathetic to the Communist cause prior to WW II; some were involved in the Spanish Civil War on the anti-fascist side. So here we have a paradox of a communist sympathizer leading a top-secret project. Until 1945 it was thought that the Russians were the allies of the West and it would be logical to let them in on the secrets of bomb design. But things changed in 1945 and the Russians became our enemy, with much resulting paranoia, particularly when the Russians tested their own bomb.
James Thackara follows the rise and fall of "Oppie" in a well written and historically accurate manner. His grasp of the science is not very good but that is not the main issue. It came down to whether Oppie was a spy or a well-intentioned, yet naive, moralist. In the hysteria of Washington in the 50's the politicians and military thought the former; Oppie's scientific colleagues for the most part thought the latter. A notable exception was Edward Teller who was hell-bent on developing the "Super", the thermonuclear bomb, against Oppie's advice. At the security hearing in the 50's Teller spoke out against his critic.
This book addresses important moral issues in the same admirable way as the author's "The Book of Kings". These issues are still relevant to the 21st century. The book is highly recommended to the serious reader of "fiction" whose underlying facts are real.

Although I agree with the other reviewers that the prose is awful, that was not my major problem with Mr. Thackara's novel. Instead, I found the behavior of almost all of his characters incomprehensible in one way or another. They have these strange reversals of positions that are not adequately accounted for; misunderstandings arise between them that would never occur if the characters were actually the people that they had initially been drawn to be; instead it seems Mr. Thackara justs molds them at will as necessary to suit his story. Hasty ex post rationales are then sometimes tacked on to explain their behavior.
In War and Peace, the echoes of which you can clearly trace in the characters and plot of Mr. Thackara's novel (and to which he himself pays homage to in the words of Baron von Sunda), all of the characters, e.g., Prince Andrei, Rostov, Natasha, Pierre, were real people whom I understood and felt for even when, especially when, they made tragic choices, labored in ignorance or doubt, or when, through great suffering, they were transformed. I did not buy The Book of Kings with the expection of encountering the art of Tolstoy but I did expect to meet human beings who I would care for and empathize with.
Beyond his gift with language, Tolstoy is a genuis because he could capture History, Fate, War, Tyrants and Slaughter as well as the blessed uniqueness of the indivudual.

After having read this book, I must take serious exception to the detractors that have given this book an undeserved thumbs down. It is frankly dirty pool to compare it unfavorably to War and Peace, one of the great historical novels of all times. It is likewise unfair to criticize the author as being full of himself, or unable to write in a manner in which people speak; that is what may be termed style. It is also disingenuous to admire the typeface as the only redeeming quality of the book. How about criticizing Proust as being wordy? That the prose is self conscious adds, to my mind, a kind of period authenticity. Much of the writing of the time was similarly stilted. Look, for example at Paul Scott's Raj Quartet, Robert Musil's Man without Qualities, or Anthony Powell's Dance to the Music of Time, each of which compares favorably to this book, and none gets such an undesrved bashing. Upton Sinclair won a Pulitzer for the Lanny Budd novels with this self-conscious prose and none of the substance herein. Thackery and Trollope were every bit as convoluted. It seems that the critics should cut Mr. Thackara some slack; just sit down and enjoy the journey.

The story traces four friends, two principally, through prewar and subsequently war-torn Europe, elaborately staged from drawing-room to battlefield. The prose is indeed ornate, but after all this was a time of demagogues and hyperbole. My sole criticism is that it is far from unexplored country. Like an old silver mine, all the nuggets have been carried away long ago. It is prettty derivative stuff. It is not a new idea that the reality of war makes disillusionment of ideals. Still, this is a story that needs to be told lest we forget. We watch Grand Illusion now, realizing that it is as compelling as it was more than a half a century ago, although the acting seems wooden and it is in black and white. We have not as a society had to face a loss of innocence for some time, and perhaps that is the best reason to read this period piece and be caught up in the hubris of a near forgotten past.

I can honestly say that this is the best book I've ever read. The bias I have in my opinion is that I read it while I was temporarily living in Germany. I read the book, and then went and visited the places I had just read about. The way James Thackara used real historical events and people, and then wrote his story around it was brilliant. You won't be able to put this one down.