109 East Palace

Robert Oppenheimer and the Secret City of Los Alamos

By: Jennet Conant

Narrated by: Anne Twomey

From the bestselling author of Tuxedo Park, the extraordinary story of the thousands of people who were sequestered in a military facility in the desert for twenty-seven intense months under J. Robert Oppenheimer where the world's best scientists raced to invent the atomic bomb and win World War II.

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.©2005 Jennet Conant; (P)2005 Simon & Schuster Inc. AUDIOWORKS in an imprint of Simon & Schuster Audio Division, Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Going Back In Time

I loved the detail and imagery. The author is descriptive and does a nice job of sending you back in time. I felt like I was there.

Very well written and very informative.

I liked it very much. Would have much preferred that it not be abridged. I like to read the kindle version of a book and have it read to me by the narrator.

Some Interesting Information but Not Well Written

This story gives some interesting information about the Manhattan Project and the Los Alamos nuclear bomb development but it isn't very well written. Too much emphasis is given to Oppenheimer's love life and not enough on what it was like to live in this community and what was involved in creating The Gadget. If you a looking for general information about the Manhattan Project, I think you would want to include this in your reading, just be ready to wade through some junk.

Enjoyed the history.....

What made the experience of listening to 109 East Palace the most enjoyable?

It walked you through the history of the Manhattan Project.

What about Anne Twomey’s performance did you like?

Great detail!

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes it was well read and interesting.

Worth the listen twice

A fascinating account of the humanity behind one of the greatest and scariest events in all of science. Well written and announced.