I think the best history is “The Making of the Atomic Bomb” by Richard Rhodes. I can’t recommend it enough. Also, Richard Feynman wrote some insightful essays on the day to day life working on the Manhattan Project, contained in “Surely you’re Joking, Mr Feynman”
I’ve done a little work at Oak Ridge. Rhode’s book details how the Calutrons there were wound with silver borrowed from the Treasury. The National commitment to this effort will likely never be repeated.
