Why am I passionate about this?

Denise Kiernan is a multiple New York Times bestselling author of narrative nonfiction books including The Girls Of Atomic City, The Last Castle, and We Gather Together. While writing The Girls Of Atomic City, Kiernan not only tracked down and interviewed countless individuals who worked directly on the Manhattan Project, she also consumed virtually every book ever written on the subject and spent endless days in the bowels of the National Archives deep-diving into the institution’s Atomic Energy Commission holdings. She served as a member of the Manhattan Project National Historic Park Scholars Forum in Washington, D.C., helping shape the topics and interpretive planning for this new national park. She has spoken at institutions across the country on topics covered in her book.


I wrote

Book cover of The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II

What is my book about?

The Girls of Atomic City tells the unbelievable true story of young women during World War II who worked in…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of Hiroshima

Denise Kiernan Why did I love this book?

It is a rare and wondrous thing when a book can at once inform and move you. Author John Hersey grips readers with his narrative style, by elegantly weaving together personal stories and key information. The result is a book that causes one to both think and feel.

An invaluable contribution to the vast library of World War II works and one of my all-time favorite reads.

By John Hersey,

Why should I read it?

9 authors picked Hiroshima as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

“One of the great classics of the war" (The New Republic) that tells what happened in Hiroshima through the memories of survivors—from a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist. 

On August 6, 1945, Hiroshima was destroyed by the first atom bomb ever dropped on a city. This book, John Hersey's journalistic masterpiece, tells what happened on that day. Told through the memories of survivors, this timeless, powerful and compassionate document has become a classic "that stirs the conscience of humanity" (The New York Times).

Almost four decades after the original publication of this celebrated book, John Hersey went back to Hiroshima in search…


Book cover of The Making of the Atomic Bomb

Denise Kiernan Why did I love this book?

This Pulitzer Prize-winning book is the be-all, end-all of reads on the Manhattan Project. Full stop.

If I were forced to recommend just one book to immerse yourself into every aspect of the project, from the science to the politics and more, it would be this one. Don’t let the tremendous page-count scare you off—Rhodes is a smooth, readable, and engaging writer.

By Richard Rhodes,

Why should I read it?

9 authors picked The Making of the Atomic Bomb as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

With a brand new introduction from the author, this is the complete story of how the bomb was developed. It is told in rich, human, political, and scientific detail, from the turn-of-the-century discovery of the vast energy locked inside the atom to the dropping of the first bombs on Japan. Few great discoveries have evolved so swiftly -- or have been so misunderstood. From the theoretical discussions of nuclear energy to the bright glare of Trinity there was a span of hardly more than twenty-five years. What began as merely an interesting speculative problem in physics grew into the Manhattan…


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Book cover of Who Is a Worthy Mother?: An Intimate History of Adoption

Who Is a Worthy Mother? By Rebecca Wellington,

I grew up thinking that being adopted didn’t matter. I was wrong. This book is my journey uncovering the significance and true history of adoption practices in America. Now, in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, the renewed debate over women’s reproductive rights places…

Book cover of Almighty: Courage, Resistance, and Existential Peril in the Nuclear Age

Denise Kiernan Why did I love this book?

Zak is an award-winning reporter for the Washington Post, where his gift for prose is on regular display.

When he turned his skillful journalist’s eye toward nuclear weaponry and present-day anti-nuclear activism, the result was a book that takes readers through the night and aftermath of a break-in at one of the most secure facilities in the country and a look at the moments and forces in history that shaped the people involved.

By Dan Zak,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Almighty as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

On July 28, 2012, three senior citizens broke into one of the most secure nuclear-weapons facilities in the world. An 82 Catholic nun, a Vietnam veteran, and a house smeared the walls with human blood and spray-painted quotes from the Bible. Then they waited to be arrested. This simple act spawned a complex discussion. In Almighty, Washington Post writer Dan Zak examines how events over the past 70 years led to this act, one of the most successful and high-profile demonstrations of anti-nuclear activism.


Book cover of Truman

Denise Kiernan Why did I love this book?

I cannot imagine a book that David McCullough might write that I would not want to read.

This impeccably researched and wonderfully intriguing book about President Harry. S. Truman—who was in the White House when the decisions to release the first-ever atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were made—gives an intimate and informative look at one of the key figures in both the Manhattan Project and World War II history.

By David McCullough,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Truman as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of Harry S. Truman, whose presidency included momentous events from the atomic bombing of Japan to the outbreak of the Cold War and the Korean War, told by America's beloved and distinguished historian.

The life of Harry S. Truman is one of the greatest of American stories, filled with vivid characters-Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin, Eleanor Roosevelt, Bess Wallace Truman, George Marshall, Joe McCarthy, and Dean Acheson-and dramatic events. In this riveting biography, acclaimed historian David McCullough not only captures the man-a more complex, informed, and determined man than ever before imagined-but also the turbulent times in which…


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Book cover of The Atrahasis Epic

A Sumerian tale of irrigation, floods, and the creation of man By Ken Goudsward,

Contrary to popular belief, the Atrahasis Epic is not merely a flood myth. In some ways it can be called a creation myth. However, it does not concern itself with the creation of the universe or even of the earth. Rather, the created work in question is one of culture…

Book cover of Day of Trinity

Denise Kiernan Why did I love this book?

Published in 1965 and written by then Washington and foreign correspondent of Time Magazine Lamont, this book remains for me an exceptionally compelling narrative history.

The lens here is focused tightly on the events leading up to the first-ever test of an atomic bomb, which was codenamed “Trinity.” Obsessively researched, yes, but it’s Lamont’s writing that makes readers feel as though they are there, in the vastness of the desert, witnessing a happening that changed the world forever.

By Lansing Lamont,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Day of Trinity as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Day of Trinity by Lansing Lamont.


Explore my book 😀

Book cover of The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II

What is my book about?

The Girls of Atomic City tells the unbelievable true story of young women during World War II who worked in a secret city dedicated to making fuel for the first atomic bomb—only they didn’t know that.

This narrative non-fiction book introduces the reader to this world through the eyes of the real women who lived and worked there during the war. The Girls of Atomic City is a story of patriotism and purpose, of mystery and suspicion, survival and remembrance.

Book cover of Hiroshima
Book cover of The Making of the Atomic Bomb
Book cover of Almighty: Courage, Resistance, and Existential Peril in the Nuclear Age

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