Good evening.

I am Ted Ayres, the host of Inside the Cover.

As we approach the midpoint of season five, I want to again thank all of you who watch and support PBS Kansas, your home for seriously good TV.

Books and movies.

Movies and books.

Do you have thoughts, preferences or peeves in this regard?

Personally speaking, I find I am usually disappointed in the movies I see, If I have previously read the book.

Generally the film version comes up lacking.

On the other hand, I am often intrigued by a movie and a subject matter and left with a desire to know more.

That is certainly the case with tonight's featured book.

It is now time to go inside the cover.

Tonight's book is American Prometheus by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin.

This book was copyrighted in 2005, and I finished my copy on December 17, 2023.

Subtitled The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer.

The cover notes that the book was the inspiration for the motion picture Oppenheimer.

And that statement is certainly confirmed by my reading of the book.

Oftentimes, I thought I was reading from the script of the movie.

In the author's note and acknowledgments, Sherwin writes that he began his research on Robert Oppenheimer in 1979 and New Mexico on horseback at the Oppenheimer Ranch.

However, in the late 1990s, Sherwin found himself at a standstill.

While he had committed to writing the biography some 20 years prior and receiving half of the $70,000 fee at the time, he was beginning to doubt he would ever complete it.

Despite conducting extensive research collecting over 50,000 pages of interviews, transcripts, letters, diaries and declassified documents as well as FBI dossiers, he had yet to make significant progress on the actual writing.

The materials were stored in numerous boxes scattered throughout his home and office.

Thank goodness for Kai Bird.

The completion of this manuscript was only made possible due to the exceptional collaboration between the two writers who shared a deep friendship and a passion for the art of biography.

This book tells the story of J. Robert Oppenheimer from his birth on April 25, 1904, until his death from cancer on February 18, 1967.

Oppenheimer died in his sleep at 10:40 p.m. at the family home in Princeton, New Jersey.

American Prometheus is a magnificent, monumental and marvelous book, is well written, thoroughly researched and presented in a scholarly and balanced fashion.

As noted in the book's preface, many of the individuals interviewed in the 1970s and 1980s are no longer alive.

But the stories they told leave behind a nuanced portrait of a remarkable man who led us into the nuclear age and struggled unsuccessfully as we have continued to struggle to find a way to eliminate the danger of nuclear war.

...One, Fire!

If you are interested in American history, world history, politics, science, academic life, human nature and military affairs, you will find something to relish and enjoy in this book.

And I think you will also be surprised, should I say disappointed at some of the tactics of the FBI and other organizations seemingly out to destroy Oppenheimer.

As Oppenheimer is quoted in the book, “They paid more to tap my phone than they paid me to run the Los Alamos project.

” This is not a book for the faint of heart, including the index.

It is 721 pages of small print.

However, I give the book my highest recommendation knowing it will be one of my top ten reads of 2023, and I encourage you to give it a read.

I think you will agree that it is time well spent.

That's our show.

Our book has been American Prometheus by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin One of the most important books I have ever read and I encourage you to see the movie.

See you next time right here on Inside the cover.