THE DAY THE SUN ROSE TWICE by...

THE DAY THE SUN ROSE TWICE by Ferenc Morton Szasz (University of New Mexico: $15.95). Szasz’s book may be the definitive account of the days and hours leading up to the first nuclear explosion in history and the legacy it left. He vividly reconstructs the story: the industrious atmosphere of the scientists and technicians; the grave considerations of those making key decisions; the sense of wonder, and twinges of conscience, at what had been achieved. Szasz brings us to the dawn of the modern era in fluid prose and with sensitivity for the telling detail. A stand-out among books that tell the story of the Manhattan Project and birth of the Atomic Age.