PULITZER PRIZE WINNER - The definitive biography of J. Robert Oppenheimer, one of the iconic figures of the twentieth century, a brilliant physicist who led the effort to build the atomic bomb for his country in a time of war, and who later found himself confronting the moral consequences of scientific progress. THE INSPIRATION FOR THE UPCOMING MAJOR MOTION PICTURE OPPENHEIMER In this magisterial, acclaimed biography twenty-five years in the making, Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin capture Oppenheimer s life and times, from his early career to his central role in the Cold War. This is biography and history at its finest, riveting and deeply informative. A masterful account of Oppenheimer s rise and fall, set in the context of the turbulent decades of America s own transformation. It is a tour de force. --Los Angeles Times Book Review A work of voluminous scholarship and lucid insight, unifying its multifaceted portrait with a keen grasp of Oppenheimer s essential nature.... It succeeds in deeply fathoming his most damaging, self-contradictory behavior. --The New York Times