The Berlin Project

"Karl Cohen is working under Harold Urey as a physics research assistant at Columbia University, where their discoveries bring them into the circle known as the Manhattan Project. In this alternate history (illustrated with historical photographs), Karl, being in the right place at the right time, moves up the timetable on the making of the first atomic bomb. Rather than targeting the Japanese city of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, the first "little boy" is deployed June 5, 1944, on Berlin. Physicist and best-selling author Benford (Timescape) keeps most of his narrative solidly grounded in historical facts but not overwhelmingly so, and his engaging and compelling characters (all real people) are easy to connect with. While pondering what might have been, this insightful work provides a sobering look at how fragile the whole process of building an atomic weapon really was."
-- "-- Library Journal"
"One of the hallmarks of science fiction is asking "What if?" IN fact, the entire subgenre of alternate history is based on it. Gregory Benford's exciting alternate WWII thriller The Berlin Project posits a scenario in which the atomic bomb was ready to be deployed one year early, in the summer of 1944 - thanks to a scientist with the Manhattan Project who discovers a new way to cause a powerful chain reaction. How would the war have changed? Find out in the fast-paced story."-- "- Kirkus Review"
"Physics and politics, engineering and imagination, "The Berlin Project" has them all. No one has ever been better than Mr. Benford at expressing the sheer excitement of new science and the human tension of making a case, on which the future of the world depends.

"Let's not think that there aren't other decisions being made now, or not made now, on which our future depends. The answers depend on the science, yes, but also on the salesmanship. You have to sell the Moon, and Mars and the stars, to the politicians and the public. And if you don't get it right . . . there will be consequences. That's why sci-fi is not just for fans."

--- Tom Shippey ", The Wall Street Journal"

"Through an informed exploration of what might have been, The Berlin Project provides a unique and darkly enthralling perspective on the events underpinning the advent of the atomic age."-- "- Scientific American"