On May 19 1945 eleven days after the surrender of Nazi Germany in Europe a U-boat was escorted into Portsmouth Naval Yard New Hampshire. News reporters covering the surrender of U-234 were ordered contrary to all previous and later U-boat surrender procedures to keep their distance from crew members and passengers of U-234 on threat of being shot by the attending Marine guards. Why the tight security? Buried in the nose of the specially-built mammoth boat sealed in cylinders lined with gold was 1 120 pounds of enriched uranium labeled U235 the fissile material from which atom bombs are made. Critical Mass documents how these Nazi bomb components were then used by the Manhattan Project to complete both the uranium bomb dropped on Hiroshima and the plutonium bomb dropped on Nagasaki to defeat the Japanese and win World War Two and global domination in the modern age. Author: Carter Plymton Hydrick Publisher: Trine Day Published: 08/01/2016 Pages: 432 Binding Type: Paperback Weight: 0.70lbs Size: 8.90h x 5.90w x 0.80d ISBN: 9781634241175 Review Citation(s): Kirkus Reviews 11/15/2016 About the Author Carter Plymton Hydrick has been a professional writer and communicator for over a quarter century. While Critical Mass is his first book he has written or produced hundreds of scripts articles and advertisements as well as written produced and directed over 100 film and video productions including work on feature films. He has served as director of corporate communications for a Fortune 500 company and as a global marketing executive for one of the world s largest computer companies. He and Kris his wife of over 40 years make their home near Houston Texas. They are the parents of four children and grandparents of 14 at this writing.