New twists on Germany's bomb

Abstract

The story of Germany's efforts to develop nuclear energy and nuclear weapons during the Second World War is one of the most contentious of the 20th century. But the many books and articles that have been written on this subject agree on one thing. Although German scientists were close to building a working nuclear reactor by the end of the war, they had not developed – and were nowhere near to building – a nuclear weapon. The dispute has therefore centred on why Germany did not succeed.