The Devil Reached Toward the Sky presents an oral history of the atomic bomb's development and deployment. It includes perspectives from various individuals, not just scientists, highlighting significant yet often overlooked aspects, like segregation in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The final chapters powerfully depict the aftermath of the bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki through survivor accounts. Graff's approach differentiates his work from previous writings, emphasizing the impact on those directly involved and affected by the project, illustrating the complexities of invention and its dire consequences.
"My God, what have we done?," Capt. Robert A. Lewis, co-pilot of the Enola Gay, is quoted in the book as saying.
Graff also explores overlooked pieces of the Manhattan Project's history, such as how segregation affected life at Oak Ridge.
The power of Graff's oral history is the diversity of voices he relies upon in crafting a thorough history of the atomic bomb's inception.
No writer could describe better the hellscape that the bombs unleashed better than those on the ground who survived it.
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