The Atomic Bomb: Voices from Hiroshima and Nagasaki (Japan in the Modern World) [Hardcover]

Kyoko Selden (Author, Editor), Mark Selden (Editor), Robert Jay Lifton (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Many accounts, personal and secondary, have been written by and about the victims of the atomic bombs, the best known being John Hersey's Hiroshima ( LJ 11/1/46; 9/15/85 rev. ed.). Following an essay which discusses (and indicts) the decisions to drop the bombs, the Seldens have assembled literary expressions, factual and fictional, written by those who experienced the world's only nuclear warfare. The testimony appears in the form of "Novellas," "Poetry," a "Photo Essay," "Citizens' Memoirs," "Pictures by Atomic Bomb Survivors" (not available for review), and "Children's Voices." As the editors assert, these voices " . . . merit careful listening," but their graphic descriptions of unimaginable horrors challenge both stomach and conscience. Recommended.
- Kenneth W. Berger, Duke Univ. Lib., Durham, N.C.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 257 pages
• Publisher: M E Sharpe Inc (April 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0873325567
• ISBN-13: 978-0873325561
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,197,635 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Mark Selden is a Coordinator of The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus, a Senior Research Associate in the East Asia Program at Cornell University, and Professor Emeritus of History and Sociology at Binghamton University. You can access The Asia-Pacific Journal here; http://japanfocus.org

A specialist on the modern and contemporary geopolitics, political economy and history of China, Japan and the Asia Pacific, his work has addressed themes of war and revolution, inequality, development, regional and world social change, and historical memory. A founding member of the Committee of Concerned Asian Scholars in the 1960s, for more than thirty years he edited The Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars (later Critical Asian Studies). He is the editor of Book Series at Rowman and Littlefield, Routledge, and M.E. Sharpe including series on The Asia-Pacific, War and Peace, and World Social Change.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Window, November 14, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Atomic Bomb: Voices from Hiroshima and Nagasaki (Japan in the Modern World) (Paperback)

Certain essays from this book were requirements for an international relations class I took. After reading two of the stories I had to read the entire book. It is a truely excellent window into the effects of the atomic bomb on humans. It took me below the mushroom cloud, it was graphic, gripping, and effective. It does not focus on justifications for the bomb, it focuses purely on the effects. I plan on buying it in the near future because it is such an excellent testimonial.

6 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars greatly educational, February 10, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Atomic Bomb: Voices from Hiroshima and Nagasaki (Japan in the Modern World) (Hardcover)

I reviewed that te book was a great review of how terrible the devigstation was. Had great detail