Janet Farrell Brodie explores the Trinity test and those whose contributions have rarely, if ever, been discussed--the men and women who constructed, served, and witnessed the first test--as well as the downwinders who suffered the consequences of the radiation. Although the Trinity site became a significant node for testing the new weapons of the postwar United States, it is known today as an officially designated National Historic Landmark. Brodie presents a timely, important, and innovative study of an explosion that carries special historical weight in American memory. 318 pages hc