“Journalist Graff delivers a magisterial oral history of the atomic bomb. . . . The result is a stunning account that brings to the fore the nuclear saga’s surreal combination of ingenuity, fate, and terror.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“The power of Graff’s oral history is the diversity of voices he relies upon . . . He creates a comprehensive account of a what seems like a well-told piece of history by including voices that have been either little-heard or missed altogether in the eight decades since the atomic bombs were dropped. . . . The Devil Reached Toward the Sky focuses not just on the voices of scientists like Robert Oppenheimer and Edward Teller. Graff also explores overlooked pieces of the Manhattan Project’s history, such as how segregation affected life at Oak Ridge. But the most powerful portions come in the final chapters of the book. . . . No writer could describe better the hellscape that the bombs unleashed better than those on the ground who survived it.” —Associated Press

“By going deeper into the personal details and reminiscences of a generation that is all but lost to us now, Mr. Graff . . . [has] made the story more human, especially when the weapon’s essential inhumanity threatens to overshadow everything else. . . . Each chapter is a compilation of snippets from interviews, memoirs and the personal testimony of figures from President Truman and Hiroshima’s police chief down to the last survivors of the Hiroshima attack and the man responsible for box lunches at the plant in Hanford, Wash., that made the plutonium for the bomb used at Nagasaki. . . . Mr. Graff gives us fascinating snippets about [J. Robert Oppenheimer] the man who has since become the symbol of the entire bomb project.” —Wall Street Journal

“If you are an intelligent person, or at the very least think you are, you have to read Garrett Graff’s The Devil Reached Toward the Sky. Even if you don’t read this lengthy masterpiece, you should keep it in your library to demonstrate that you are curious and literate. If you Zoom frequently, it should be one of the books on the shelves directly behind you so that viewers can register how smart you are.  If you need to know something about the story itself—it’s everything, and more, about the atom, the atom bomb, the Manhattan Project, and the terrifying destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This period in history has never been more relevant and frightening than it is today.” —James Patterson

“Garrett Graff’s new book about America’s quest for the atomic bomb draws upon hundreds of well-chosen primary sources, and introduces them with some diamond-sharp commentary. The account Graff has assembled is comprehensive and it hits as hard as anything yet written on the topic. . . . By adopting an oral history format and letting the subjects speak for themselves, Graff provides the canon with a valuable human quality without sacrificing the story’s epic sweep.” —Quilette

“A comprehensive and engrossing account of the atomic bomb’s creation—and its effects. . . . The 500 voices who make up the oral history include famous and less-known figures, such as members of the crew who created the first controlled nuclear chain reaction; farmers whose land was needed to build massive complexes to produce enriched uranium and plutonium for the bombs; ‘project spouses’ at all three locations raising families under difficult living conditions; politicians and military men involved in planning and executing the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; and Japanese survivors of the bombings. . . . Excellent oral history.” —Kirkus Reviews