I had hard time getting into this book. It wasn’t quite what I was expecting and the writing style just was not for me. The information was interesting and I found the background to how the movie was made, and the politics involved, intriguing. This was a decent addition to the nuclear post-war collection.

Most fans of classic movies likely haven't seen, or even heard of The Beginning or the End, but in a way that's what makes the book so interesting. There's so much new information. It's the story of the making of a movie about one of the most important historical events ever, the dropping of the atomic bombs on Japan. But this film didn't just have the typical studio interference one would expect. It also had the interference of the military, the scientists who worked on the bomb, and the president himself. Well-researched and always interesting this is a making-of book that mixes in history, politics and Hollywood shenanigans in an entertaining narrative about a mostly forgotten movie.

Mitchell smartly uses the story of the first Hollywood film about the Manhattan Project to frame a larger and more compelling tale: how America processed and ultimately normalized its use of weapons of mass destruction. The Tinseltown sections are full of faces familiar to film noir fans as well as some unexpected cameos (Ayn Rand, anyone?), but they also detail how conflicted the scientists were about both their work and the big-screen depiction of it, and how the military made sure to present the A-bomb effort in the best possible light. Throughout, Mitchell steps back from the making of the title misbegotten film to assess how Hiroshima and Nagasaki were being viewed by Americans socially and politically. This approach and Mitchell's witty, engaging style pay real dividends. A fascinating book for movie fans and history buffs.

A genuinely fun read for both fans of history and film. It also is definitely relevant today. I would recommend this book to friends, and I am now interested in more books by this author..

An interesting good read about the always strange collaborations between Washington and Hollywood in one of our darkest periods with a story that's hard to film even today. A great book if you are interested in politics and the movies

5 Enthusiastic Stars! Despite the fact that I normally tear through books in a single sitting, almost as soon as I opened "The Beginning or the End," I knew it was going to take me longer than my usual read. Not because it was dense or difficult to get through, but because the history was so fascinating and the retelling of that history so lively, I wanted to savor it! Mitchell does a fantastic job of recounting a strange chapter in America's nuclear history and highlights the fascinating and dangerous ways in which our politics and pop culture overlap. A great read for history and pop culture buffs alike. Highly recommended!