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109 East Palace: Robert Oppenheimer and the Secret City of Los Alamos
by Jennet Conant
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Simon & Schuster (2006-05-02)
ISBN: 0743250087
EAN: 9780743250085
Dewy Decimal #: 623.451190973
Paperback: 448 pages
SKU: C062RGB
Condition: Used: Good
Comments: Clean unmarked cover. Clean unmarked pages. Has some shelf wear. 100% satisfaction guaranteed. All orders include an e-Book about starting your own Internet Business in PDF format. FREE Domestic DELIVERY CONFIRMATION! We ship daily Mon-Sat and will let you know when your item has shipped along with your e/DC number. [HI, AK, PR, VI, GUAM, SAIPAN & West Coast customers, please use Expedited Shipping, otherwise it may take longer than the estimated 14 business days.] Items are from a smoke free and air conditioned environment.
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Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
In 1943, J. Robert Oppenheimer, the brilliant, charismatic head of the Manhattan Project, recruited scientists to live as virtual prisoners of the U.S. government at Los Alamos, a barren mesa thirty-five miles outside Santa Fe, New Mexico. Thousands of men, women, and children spent the war years sequestered in this top-secret military facility. They lied to friends and family about where they were going and what they were doing, and then disappeared into the desert. Through the eyes of a young Santa Fe widow who was one of Oppenheimer's first recruits, we see how, for all his flaws, he developed into an inspiring leader and motivated all those involved in the Los Alamos project to make a supreme effort and achieve the unthinkable.
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Customer Reviews
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Oppenheimer and the amazing and mysterious city of Los Alamos
Rating  (4)
Date: 2008-08-19
Nearly a classic, this book evokes the spirit of the amazing and mysterious city of Los Alamos as scientists and secretaries, immigrant Europeans and homegrown college graduates, Jews and Native Americans, soldiers and civilians, families and individuals, famous and unknown, came together and disappeared through the portal at 109 East Palace to create the atomic bombs that changed the world.
The most fascinating part of the story is the people, who are the focus of the book, and how they build a makeshift society in an isolated place. Conant (who has family connections) tells the story well.
The only criticism that kept me from marking this as a classic is its idolization of Oppenheimer. However, having recently read an odd novel in which Oppenheimer comes alive (Oh Pure and Radiant Heart by Lydia Millet), which also casts Oppenheimer in a similar messianic light, the man must have had an extremely powerful personal influence.
So perhaps this is a classic.
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A peek at the past
Rating (4)
Date: 2008-04-07
I read 109 East Palace for a public library adult discussion group here in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Several people who either currently work at Sandia Labs or are recently retired from there attended the discussion.
The group (27 in attendance) was very positive about this book and appreciated learning many of the details of daily life at Los Alamos during the development of the atomic bomb.
This is an easy read and chronicles a very important event in the World War II era. Whether or not you agree with the use of atomic weapons, this is an informative book and gives a unique perspective. It is well worth reading.
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109 East Palace
Rating  (5)
Date: 2008-01-07
An excellelnt accout of one of the most important projects of the last century. Since reading it, I visited Los Alamos and also Trinity Site. An inspiring piece of history.
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Splendidly written
Rating (5)
Date: 2007-11-11
Jannet Conant has written a superbly beatiful account of the Manhattan Project. Her narrative skirts the main and readilly accessible history of the project itself and instead concentrates on the human side of this momentous effort. Her description of the places around the Los Alamos and of the people who played secondary, but nevertheless fascinating, roles in the making of the bomb is extremely engaging.
This book is as exquisitely crafted as her previous book Tuxedo Park. If you are interested in going beyond the main line of other iconic books on the subject, such as The Making of the Bonmb, don't miss this one.
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Enjoyable book, different perspective
Rating (4)
Date: 2007-11-05
1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
I like historical books on technical matters, and I found myself quite enjoying this book. Were I asked to describe this book, I'd say this book reads like a (long) conversation you might have, were you to sit on a park bench with someone who worked at Los Alamos during WW II... The book provides a glimpse into what life was like at the labs - you won't learn about the physics of the bomb, but you'll get highly personal views on the politics of that time. Were I to have a complaint about the book, it would be that the book relies heavily on one primary source for a great portion of the book, and while that character did have a very unique and interesting perspective, we are left with "her" opinions of others thoughts and motivations - not a problem, and really unavoidable given the wealth of source material her primary source left her. If you want to know what life was like at the labs, this is the book for you.
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