Book Review: 'The Devil Reached Toward the Sky' weaves thorough account of Atomic Age's start

The story of the Atomic Age’s start is a fascinating one about the power of invention and a chilling one about its consequences. In “The Devil Reached Toward the Sky: An Oral History of the Making and Unleashing of the Atomic Bomb,” Garrett M. Graff skillfully tells both.

The power of Graff’s oral history is the diversity of voices he relies upon in crafting a comprehensive history of the atomic bomb’s inception, creation and use during World War II.

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 six decades since the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Graff at the outset acknowledges his book is adding to a history that feels well-worn, from histori