Author: Garrett M. Graff
Publisher: Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster
ISBN: 978-1668092415
Garrett M. Graff, known for his meticulous narrative nonfiction works such as The Only Plane in the Sky and Watergate: A New History, turns his focus to one of the most consequential episodes of the twentieth century — the birth of the atomic bomb.
In The Devil Reached Toward the Sky: An Oral History of the Making and Unleashing of the Atomic Bomb, Graff presents a sweeping oral history that stitches together voices from scientists, military personnel, politicians, and ordinary witnesses whose lives were forever shaped by the Manhattan Project and the atomic strikes on Japan.
What makes the book stand out is Graff’s signature style: he allows the story to unfold almost entirely through first-person testimony. Rather than writing a linear, top-down history of the Manhattan Project, he assembles a mosaic of perspectives that capture both the grandeur of scientific discovery and the profound moral weight it carried.
Readers hear from physicists at Los Alamos grappling with equations and ethical dilemmas, generals balancing military necessity with geopolitical calculation, and Japanese survivors who endured the unfathomable aftermath of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The book’s title, The Devil Reached Toward the Sky, reflects the almost apocalyptic imagery that accompanied the detonation of the bomb in the New Mexico desert in July 1945. Graff recreates the Trinity test with chilling immediacy, drawing on accounts that describe the light, heat, and shockwave in terms that transcend science — venturing into the realm of the spiritual and the terrifying. It is this juxtaposition of awe and dread that defines much of the narrative.
One of the book’s outstanding features lies in how it foregrounds the human dimensions of what is often treated as a purely technical or geopolitical story. The scientists, many of them refugees from Europe, saw themselves as racing against time to prevent Nazi Germany from building the bomb first. Yet once victory was secured in Europe, the urgency shifted, and some began to question whether the project should continue. Graff captures these internal debates, showing how figures like J. Robert Oppenheimer, Enrico Fermi, and others wrestled with the implications of their work even as the machinery of war pushed inexorably toward deployment.
Equally powerful are the voices from Japan. Graff ensures that the book is not a triumphalist narrative of American ingenuity but a sobering reminder of the human toll. Eyewitnesses describe the moment the bombs fell, the blinding light, the instant destruction, and the long aftermath of radiation sickness. These accounts force readers to confront the ethical paradox of a weapon that ended one war while on the other hand, ushering in the permanent shadow of nuclear annihilation.
At more than 700 pages, the book is expansive, but Graff’s editorial choices keep it accessible. The oral history format gives the narrative a cinematic quality — quick shifts of perspective and tempo sustain momentum while layering context and emotion. Readers unfamiliar with the Manhattan Project will find it deeply informative, while those steeped in the history will appreciate the intimacy of the voices.
Ultimately, The Devil Reached Toward the Sky is not just a history of how the atomic bomb was made but a meditation on power, morality, and the fragile line between human genius and human destruction. Graff has delivered a monumental, haunting work that ensures the voices of those who lived through the dawn of the nuclear age will not be forgotten.
In essence, the book is a gripping, essential oral history that captures both the brilliance and the tragedy of humanity’s most destructive invention.