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MANHATTAN: The Army and the Atomic Bomb. By Vincent C. Jones. Center of Military History, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, 1985, 660 pp., $21.00. (Member $18.90)
On 12 October 1939, after urgings by an impressive array of eminent physicists, President Franklin D. Roosevelt made the decision to explore the military potential of atomic energy. On 17 June 1942, the President approved a recommendation that effectively placed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in charge of the vast construction requirements associated with the research, development, and fabrication of the atomic bomb. For the next three years the Manhattan District-named for the geographic location of its first headquarters-spearheaded the mammoth organizational and engineering endeavor that led to the accomplishment of the mission that became colloquially known as the Manhattan Project.
Manhattan: The Army and the Atomic Bomb is an exhaustive account of the formidable role played by the U.S. Army in wartime nuclear development. A 31-year veteran of the Army Center of Military History, Dr. Vincent C. Jones has combined extremely detailed research with masterful organization and a...