Longing for the Bomb

Oak Ridge and Atomic Nostalgia

Nonfiction, History, Americas, United States, 20th Century, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Sociology
Cover of the book Longing for the Bomb by Lindsey A. Freeman, The University of North Carolina Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Lindsey A. Freeman ISBN: 9781469622385
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press Publication: April 13, 2015
Imprint: The University of North Carolina Press Language: English
Author: Lindsey A. Freeman
ISBN: 9781469622385
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
Publication: April 13, 2015
Imprint: The University of North Carolina Press
Language: English

Longing for the Bomb traces the unusual story of the first atomic city and the emergence of American nuclear culture. Tucked into the folds of Appalachia and kept off all commercial maps, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, was created for the Manhattan Project by the U.S. government in the 1940s. Its workers labored at a breakneck pace, most aware only that their jobs were helping "the war effort." The city has experienced the entire lifespan of the Atomic Age, from the fevered wartime enrichment of the uranium that fueled Little Boy, through a brief period of atomic utopianism after World War II when it began to brand itself as "The Atomic City," to the anxieties of the Cold War, to the contradictory contemporary period of nuclear unease and atomic nostalgia. Oak Ridge's story deepens our understanding of the complex relationship between America and its bombs.

Blending historiography and ethnography, Lindsey Freeman shows how a once-secret city is visibly caught in an uncertain present, no longer what it was historically yet still clinging to the hope of a nuclear future. It is a place where history, memory, and myth compete and conspire to tell the story of America's atomic past and to explain the nuclear present.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Longing for the Bomb traces the unusual story of the first atomic city and the emergence of American nuclear culture. Tucked into the folds of Appalachia and kept off all commercial maps, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, was created for the Manhattan Project by the U.S. government in the 1940s. Its workers labored at a breakneck pace, most aware only that their jobs were helping "the war effort." The city has experienced the entire lifespan of the Atomic Age, from the fevered wartime enrichment of the uranium that fueled Little Boy, through a brief period of atomic utopianism after World War II when it began to brand itself as "The Atomic City," to the anxieties of the Cold War, to the contradictory contemporary period of nuclear unease and atomic nostalgia. Oak Ridge's story deepens our understanding of the complex relationship between America and its bombs.

Blending historiography and ethnography, Lindsey Freeman shows how a once-secret city is visibly caught in an uncertain present, no longer what it was historically yet still clinging to the hope of a nuclear future. It is a place where history, memory, and myth compete and conspire to tell the story of America's atomic past and to explain the nuclear present.

More books from The University of North Carolina Press

Cover of the book The Grand Old Man of Maine by Lindsey A. Freeman
Cover of the book Dixie Highway by Lindsey A. Freeman
Cover of the book Making a Slave State by Lindsey A. Freeman
Cover of the book The Phenomenology of Henry James by Lindsey A. Freeman
Cover of the book Mapping The Democratic Forest: The Postsouthern Spaces of William Eggleston by Lindsey A. Freeman
Cover of the book Knocking on Labor’s Door by Lindsey A. Freeman
Cover of the book The War of 1898 by Lindsey A. Freeman
Cover of the book Into the Pulpit by Lindsey A. Freeman
Cover of the book Long Past Slavery by Lindsey A. Freeman
Cover of the book Advancing Democracy by Lindsey A. Freeman
Cover of the book German Peasants and Agrarian Politics, 1914-1924 by Lindsey A. Freeman
Cover of the book North of the Color Line by Lindsey A. Freeman
Cover of the book A Chosen Path by Lindsey A. Freeman
Cover of the book Slavery and Politics in the Early American Republic by Lindsey A. Freeman
Cover of the book The Strange History of the American Quadroon by Lindsey A. Freeman
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy