It was in Paris back in 1896 – and it was just a faint smudge on a photographic plate. But it sparked a chain of discoveries which would unleash the atomic age. The story which began innocently enough in a spirit of enquiry and exploration, soon became overtaken by politics and people. From Bequerel back in Paris to Ernest Rutherford the New Zealander and including Italians, Germans, Americans and the USSR. Three remarkable women also became involved – Kisa Meitner, Ida Noddack and Irene Curie – as did Ettore Majorana, an Italian scientific assistant who disappeared mysteriously.

And then of course there was Robert Oppenheimer.

Frank Close has the knack of explaining sophisticated science and complicated issues in a way anyone can understand. And this needs to be understood as a matter of urgency. The story is not over yet.

‘A cogent, detailed account of one of history’s brightest and darkest chapters.’