Not A Historian Reading List
The Journals of David E. Lilienthal, Vol. 2: The Atomic Energy Years 1945-1950
This second volume of Mr. Lilienthal's journals covers the stormy period of America's atomic weapons monopoly, of spy scares and Congressional investigations, of a secret struggle between civilian and military leadership within the government, and finally, of he gravest of issues - the decision to make the H-bomb. Beginning the day after the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima in 1945 and ending in 1950 when Mr. Lilienthal retired as chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, these journals record his part in decision-making on disarmament, on the relation of the military to scientific development, and on secrecy in government. The decisions taken in those years still affect us, and any future account of the period will come to depend in large part on this record. The journals as a whole will ultimately record some forty-six years in Mr. Lilienthal's career in public and private life. Commenting on the project, Jonathan Daniels says, "This is one of the great journals of our time - and our history. I can think of nothing quite comparable with it in the American story."
