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Admiral Hyman Rickover: Engineer of Power
A riveting exploration of the brilliant, combative, and controversial Father of the Nuclear Navy
Admiral Hyman George Rickover (1899-1986) remains an almost mythical figure in the United States Navy. A brilliant engineer with a ferocious will and combative personality, he oversaw the invention of the world's first practical nuclear power reactor. As important as the transition from sail to steam, his development of nuclear-propelled submarines and ships transformed naval power and Cold War strategy. They still influence world affairs today.
His disdain for naval regulations, indifference to the chain of command, and harsh, insulting language earned him enemies in the navy, but his achievements won him powerful friends in Congress and the White House. A Jew born in a Polish shtetl, Rickover ultimately became the longest-serving US military officer in history.
In this exciting biography, historian Marc Wortman explores the constant conflict Rickover faced and provoked, tracing how he revolutionized the navy and Cold War strategy.
Admiral Hyman George Rickover (1899-1986) remains an almost mythical figure in the United States Navy. A brilliant engineer with a ferocious will and combative personality, he oversaw the invention of the world's first practical nuclear power reactor. As important as the transition from sail to steam, his development of nuclear-propelled submarines and ships transformed naval power and Cold War strategy. They still influence world affairs today.
His disdain for naval regulations, indifference to the chain of command, and harsh, insulting language earned him enemies in the navy, but his achievements won him powerful friends in Congress and the White House. A Jew born in a Polish shtetl, Rickover ultimately became the longest-serving US military officer in history.
In this exciting biography, historian Marc Wortman explores the constant conflict Rickover faced and provoked, tracing how he revolutionized the navy and Cold War strategy.
328 pages, Hardcover
Published February 15, 2022
About the author
Marc Wortman
8 books14 followersMarc Wortman is an award-winning freelance journalist and independent scholar. His articles and essays on history, science and architecture have appeared in many national magazines. He is the author of The Millionaires’ Unit: The Aristocratic Flyboys Who Fought the Great War and Invented American Air Power, which is in development as a feature motion picture.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
March 9, 2022
For adults or high school, this is a well-written biography of the power behind nuclear power in the U.S. Navy. Admiral Rickover was born to a frum family in a European shtetl but grew up in Chicago. The story of how he changed the Navy is hard to put down!
May 31, 2023
Rickover was legendary when I worked for DOE, a retirement job for many nuke navy personnel. No high school graduates were on nuke submarines.
Some of Rickovers letters were models for management including nuclear safety practices. The Nuke Navy guys were proud of their safety record.
He was extremely disciplined and focused. Exact requirements for running nuclear power plants. Built in redundant safety practices.
He could also be cruel to his young officers.
Some of Rickovers letters were models for management including nuclear safety practices. The Nuke Navy guys were proud of their safety record.
He was extremely disciplined and focused. Exact requirements for running nuclear power plants. Built in redundant safety practices.
He could also be cruel to his young officers.
February 22, 2023
Excellent biography of a complicated, driven man.
Starting off with his arrival in the US from Poland, his being brought into a love of learning (it didn't come natural to him), basically learning nuclear engineering as a second career, and the influence not only on the nuclear Navy, but the Navy as a whole, it's hard to understate what this man did in the post war years. I'll leave the details to the read, I don't want to spoil it.
Starting off with his arrival in the US from Poland, his being brought into a love of learning (it didn't come natural to him), basically learning nuclear engineering as a second career, and the influence not only on the nuclear Navy, but the Navy as a whole, it's hard to understate what this man did in the post war years. I'll leave the details to the read, I don't want to spoil it.
November 17, 2025
3/10. Adequately written but as a biography disappointing. I imagine the military nature of the career makes it hard to tell a compelling story with varied testimony and detailed anecdotes. Like other reviewers noted, it does not adequately cover/take seriously controversy surrounding him. Really just not good and very superficial
March 1, 2022
Much philosophy to live by
A man of his convictions who knew the value of hard work and determination and who understood the true morals of life.
This book is a terrific read for any young person looking for how to prepare one self for a career and how to lead a constructive life.
A man of his convictions who knew the value of hard work and determination and who understood the true morals of life.
This book is a terrific read for any young person looking for how to prepare one self for a career and how to lead a constructive life.
September 22, 2026
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Hyman Rickover fascinates me.
Part of me wants to say that I want to grow up to be like him. At a different point in my life, I might have meant exactly that. At this point, I think I am probably too far along to become quite as ornery as Rickover was. I am certainly not as disciplined as he was, although part of me wishes I were.
What fascinated me most was his willingness to fight the system when he believed the system needed to change. Rickover was demanding, persistent, and seemingly fearless about challenging people and institutions. But what struck me was that his standards were not limited to himself or even to the immediate project in front of him. He pushed other people to become better.
His influence on a young Jimmy Carter was one of my favorite examples. I do not mean that Rickover was responsible for Carter eventually becoming president. Rather, he encountered a future leader early in his life and challenged him to think differently about himself, his standards, and what he was capable of becoming. That kind of influence can change someone's trajectory long after the person who provided it is gone.
That may be what I admire most about Rickover's leadership. He dedicated himself to something larger than himself. He fought, pushed, questioned, demanded, and developed people because he believed the work mattered to the nation. His influence extended far beyond the things he personally accomplished.
I don't think I want to be Rickover. But I would like to carry some of what made him extraordinary: his discipline, his courage to challenge a system, his relentless standards, his dedication to a mission, and his willingness to push capable people toward growth.
What a life to be proud of.
Part of me wants to say that I want to grow up to be like him. At a different point in my life, I might have meant exactly that. At this point, I think I am probably too far along to become quite as ornery as Rickover was. I am certainly not as disciplined as he was, although part of me wishes I were.
What fascinated me most was his willingness to fight the system when he believed the system needed to change. Rickover was demanding, persistent, and seemingly fearless about challenging people and institutions. But what struck me was that his standards were not limited to himself or even to the immediate project in front of him. He pushed other people to become better.
His influence on a young Jimmy Carter was one of my favorite examples. I do not mean that Rickover was responsible for Carter eventually becoming president. Rather, he encountered a future leader early in his life and challenged him to think differently about himself, his standards, and what he was capable of becoming. That kind of influence can change someone's trajectory long after the person who provided it is gone.
That may be what I admire most about Rickover's leadership. He dedicated himself to something larger than himself. He fought, pushed, questioned, demanded, and developed people because he believed the work mattered to the nation. His influence extended far beyond the things he personally accomplished.
I don't think I want to be Rickover. But I would like to carry some of what made him extraordinary: his discipline, his courage to challenge a system, his relentless standards, his dedication to a mission, and his willingness to push capable people toward growth.
What a life to be proud of.
September 10, 2025
A good read and recommended, but at times not sufficiently critical of a man who, for his personality, ultimately failed the program he fought to promote.
Rickover was a manager and a leader of great effect. But an abusive one. He brought the U.S. Navy into the nuclear age. But could no one else have? Did no one else have such a vision? Did no one else see the strategic advantage and need? The book does not explore this question. One might at times call the book, “Rickover Does It All (and some people helped).”
By making many enemies and few friends in positions of influence, and by breaking his own rule that required officers at the helm to be replaceable by those who followed, he left behind a nuclear program orphaned for a strong advocate; a Carrier fleet without nuclear escorts and an embittered naval establishment eager to restore the carrier battle group to preeminence over the submarine for sentimental and political reasons …all of which matter for nothing if and when America someday faces the obvious strategic reasons not to have made that choice.
All the same, Rickover is a man of action and consequence who deserves a defense. This book grants it vigorously.
Rickover was a manager and a leader of great effect. But an abusive one. He brought the U.S. Navy into the nuclear age. But could no one else have? Did no one else have such a vision? Did no one else see the strategic advantage and need? The book does not explore this question. One might at times call the book, “Rickover Does It All (and some people helped).”
By making many enemies and few friends in positions of influence, and by breaking his own rule that required officers at the helm to be replaceable by those who followed, he left behind a nuclear program orphaned for a strong advocate; a Carrier fleet without nuclear escorts and an embittered naval establishment eager to restore the carrier battle group to preeminence over the submarine for sentimental and political reasons …all of which matter for nothing if and when America someday faces the obvious strategic reasons not to have made that choice.
All the same, Rickover is a man of action and consequence who deserves a defense. This book grants it vigorously.
October 8, 2023
Reviewed in the United States on October 8, 2023
Marc Wortman’s well researched biography of Admiral Rickover gives an unvarnished portrait of a relentless, brutally honest military leader who prevailed against long odds in making nuclear fission a source of propulsion in subs for a Navy trying to find its way in the Cold War. You wonder when or if the prototype Nautilus would have ever been developed without Rickover’s guile and toughness. That a sub could travel the seas submerged for months with the energy from a small reactor still sounds remarkable. And finding a use for nukes other than the mass destruction of Hiroshima at that time makes Rickover one of the most consequential figures of that post WWII period. While Rickover broke rules and ignored protocols himself in Wortman’s telling, the Admiral’s disdain for a growing military industrial complex channels President Eisenhower’s warning in his farewell address. It's a good read about an important Cold War player for us boomers who grew up next to fallout shelters and ICBMs
Marc Wortman’s well researched biography of Admiral Rickover gives an unvarnished portrait of a relentless, brutally honest military leader who prevailed against long odds in making nuclear fission a source of propulsion in subs for a Navy trying to find its way in the Cold War. You wonder when or if the prototype Nautilus would have ever been developed without Rickover’s guile and toughness. That a sub could travel the seas submerged for months with the energy from a small reactor still sounds remarkable. And finding a use for nukes other than the mass destruction of Hiroshima at that time makes Rickover one of the most consequential figures of that post WWII period. While Rickover broke rules and ignored protocols himself in Wortman’s telling, the Admiral’s disdain for a growing military industrial complex channels President Eisenhower’s warning in his farewell address. It's a good read about an important Cold War player for us boomers who grew up next to fallout shelters and ICBMs
September 18, 2026
Rickover was extraordinarily difficult, combative, and obsessive, while devoting himself to the work he felt important. Not everyone understood what he was doing or agreed with how he did it, but there were people who paid attention, understood what he was trying to do, and recognized that his work extended far beyond himself or the Navy. There's something incredibly moving about a life spent in service to building an idea or culture you believe will matter long after you've gone.
He's my spirit animal! ❤️
He's my spirit animal! ❤️
February 28, 2024
fascinating story of hard work and dedicated patriotism
May 3, 2024
This book covers a lot of the Admirals life and works, but it allows you to select what you want subjects you want to go down that rabbit hole on your own.
October 19, 2024
Best book I have read in a while
August 19, 2026
Very good! A complete, fair, and well written biography.
May 22, 2024
Very impressive man!
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews