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The Devil Reached Toward the Sky: An Oral History of the Making & Unleashing of the Atomic Bomb.

Garrett M. Graff.

Simon & Schuster. 2025.

ISBN: 9781668092392.

The Devil Reached Toward the Sky is an oral history of the Manhattan Project and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, built from firsthand accounts; viz., diaries, letters, interviews, declassified documents, rather than conventional narrative history.

It weaves together voices from across the spectrum of people involved, physicists like Oppenheimer, Fermi, and Teller, military figures, workers at Los Alamos and Oak Ridge, and also Japanese survivors of the bombings, letting their own words carry the story chronologically from the discovery of nuclear fission through the bombings and their aftermath.

It covers the scientific race (including fears that Nazi Germany might get there first), the immense industrial effort of the Manhattan Project, the moral debates among scientists about whether and how to use the weapon, the decision-making that led to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the human toll on the ground.

Garrett M. Graff is an American journalist, historian, and author known for his work on national security, intelligence, and modern American history. He's a former editor of Politico Magazine and has written for outlets like Wired, where he served as a contributing editor covering technology and security topics.

Graff has built a reputation for deeply researched, accessible histories, often using oral history and archival techniques to bring major events to life.

About Coram Deo

Coram Deo — before the face of God. This blog reflects on Scripture, world events, science, music, psychology, and the human mind — always through the lens of Christian faith. All of life is lived before the face of God.