Tuesday, February 9, 2010 | 7:30 – 9pm
Location: Downstairs at Town Hall, enter on Seneca Street

The power of the atomic bomb resonates far beyond megatons, says Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and historian Garry Wills: Its very existence has transformed our nation by dramatically increasing the power of the modern presidency and redefining the government as a national security state.

Wills, author of Bomb Power, says the Manhattan Project was a triumph of official secrecy and military discipline—perhaps expected in wartime, but then growing into the covert operations and overt authority that have defined American government in the nuclear era.

According to Wills, this signals a radical break from the division of powers established by our founding fathers, enfeebling Congress and the courts as it threatens our Constitution. Presented by the Town Hall Center for Civic Life, with University Bookstore. Series supported by the Otto Haas Charitable Trust.

Advance tickets are $5 at www.brownpapertickets.com or 800/838-3006, or at the door beginning at 6:30 pm. Town Hall members receive priority seating. Downstairs at Town Hall; enter on Seneca Street.