The agency charged with developing the atomic bomb during World War II (“The Manhattan Project”) commissioned a classified history of the project in 1944. The history was “intended to describe, in simple terms, easily understood by the average reader, just what the Manhattan District did, and how, when, and where.” The volumes record the research, design, construction, operation, and administration of the project, and include charts, engineering drawings, maps and photographs.
The entire history – all 36 volumes – has now been declassified, and is available on the Energy Department’s OpenNet website.