In Mortal Hands is a nuclear history of our age - from the Manhattan Project to the present energy crisis and what it means for our future.

Drawing on unprecedented access to industry insiders and historical documents, Stephanie Cooke charts the intertwined histories of military and civilian nuclear programs. She describes the development of the first atom bomb, the decision to bomb Hiroshima and the race to develop nuclear programs during the Cold War, whether in the US, Russia or North Korea.

Along the way, she explores the untold human side of the nuclear story. In frank diaries and letters - many published here for the first time - scientists, policy-makers and civilians recorded their private responses to history as it was made. Their eyewitness accounts reveal the mixture of hope and trepidation with which the new technology was greeted.

Today, as Australians debate our role as a major exporter of uranium, and as we consider whether nuclear energy holds the answer to climate change, In Mortal Hands is timely and thought-provoking. Only once we understand the history of nuclear technology can we hope to make wise decisions about its future.