From his personal vantage point the head of the A.E.C. tells the stories of major moments in history -- World War I to the threat of World War III.

I. Free decisions -- II. A man of decision -- III. Rebirth of a nation -- IV. Twentieth-century anabasis -- V. Decisions about money -- VI. De profundis -- VII. Sidelight of a decision in Tokyo -- VIII. A view of the navy from the beach -- IX. "A thousand years of regret" -- X. The decision to detect -- XI. Decision on the hydrogen bomb -- XII. Vignettes of research and researchers -- XIII. Decisions on security -- XIV. Decision in the case of Dr. J. R. Oppenheimer -- XV. Decision in the Tennessee Valley -- XVI. A new charter for the atom : atoms for power -- XVII. The peaceable atom : decisions affecting new problems and old friends -- XVIII. Decision in the Senate -- XIX. Nuclear tests, fall-out, and world opinion.