{"product_id":"snake-dance-9780099542247","title":"Snake Dance","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe terrifying first use of nuclear weapons over Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 was the most controversial act of warfare in history, dramatically ending the Second World War but ushering in the age of mass destruction. Yet it was also the climax of a story that extends beyond Japan and Washington: the culmination of decades of scientific achievement and centuries of colonial exploitation.  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eSnake Dance\u003c\/i\u003e is the account of a journey that turned into a quest to discover how humanity reaches this point. Patrick Marnham travels from the opulent nineteenth-century palaces of King Leopold II of Belgium, built with riches plundered from the Congo, to the lethally derelict nuclear reactor of modern-day Kinshasa. He follows the shipment of Congolese uranium to the deserts of New Mexico for the Manhattan Project's secret test detonation. Here he uncovers the legacies of Robert Oppenheimer and Aby Warburg, two mad geniuses' who confronted the devastating power of twentieth-\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA beautifully written book – informative and entertaining -- Piers Paul Read * Spectator *\u003cbr\u003eFascinating… \u003ci\u003eSnake Dance\u003c\/i\u003e is nothing less than the biography of nuclear power, the most awesome force humanity has yet unleashed upon the planet -- Peter Whittakar * New Internationalist *\u003cbr\u003e[Patrick Marnham’s] mastery of a vast trove of material makes him an erudite travel companion…perennially eager to poke about in radiation zones armed only with a wonky Geiger counter and a paper mask -- Matthew Green * Literary Review *\u003cbr\u003eThe travel writing is first class… [A] thrillingly ominous account * Spectator *\u003cbr\u003eA superb book on the genesis and use of the atomic bomb * Scotsman *\u003cbr\u003eThis is a humane and intelligent book, and one in which Marnham has clearly been deeply engaged -- Melanie McGrath * Sunday Telegraph *\u003cbr\u003eThe great strength of \u003ci\u003eSnake Dance\u003c\/i\u003e is to create an atmosphere in which the advent of atomic energy is not just outrageous but tragic * Observer *\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eSnake Dance\u003c\/i\u003e is a hybrid of a film tie-in, travelogue, biography and history. It’s a blend that gels through Marnham’s unwavering verve as he follows the trail of a lethal cargo -- Christian House * Independent *\u003cbr\u003eImpeccably researched and written -- Giles Milton * Mail on Sunday *\u003cbr\u003eFrom colonial slavery to the blind potential of scientific exploration to enslave us in turn, he makes a circular journey: the nuclear snake eats its own tail * The Times *\u003cbr\u003eA twisting global journey in his devastating critique of nuclear policy…an honourable refusal to rationalise what boils down to an act of repeated mass murder * Metro *\u003cbr\u003eA penetrating historical x-ray of the first generation of people to live under the nuclear shadow * Prospect *\u003cbr\u003eA fascinating travelogue taking the reader from Joseph Conrad’s Congo to the Fukushima Nuclear Plant disaster of 2011, via New Mexico… a learned and compelling history of man trying to control the elements. It’s also a clarion call to arms to save ourselves and the planet * Bookseller *\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Random House","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51017525035351,"sku":"9780099542247","price":13.49,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780099542247.jpg?v=1750773830","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/snake-dance-9780099542247","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}