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Birth of the Modern Arms Race

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Date and time
Tuesday, April 18, 2006

Priscilla McMillan discusses the content of her newest book, The Ruin of J. Robert Oppenheimer: And the Birth of the Modern Arms Race. In a groundbreaking book that recasts the history of the Cold War, bestselling author Priscilla McMillan exposes, for the first time, the truth behind J. Robert Oppenheimer's 1954 trial on charges of violating national security. Drawing from newly declassified papers and extensive interviews, McMillan places Oppenheimer's opposition to the development of the hydrogen bomb at the heart of the story. His opposition made him the victim of government officials who, conspiring with rival scientist Edward Teller, deceived President Eisenhower and trapped the enigmatic genius who had done more than anyone to build the atomic bomb. A chilling expose of the McCarthy-era conspiracy that helped propel the East-West arms race, this is a spellbinding work of history. **Priscilla McMillan** is an associate of the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University. She is the author of the bestseller Marina and Lee. Among other places, her articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, the Los Angeles Times, Harpers Magazine, Scientific American, and The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientist, where she is a member of the editorial board.

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