Customer Reviews

The Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
It's a factual accumulation of events leading up to delivery of the two bombs
that persuaded Japan to halt aggressions, complete with analyses of damage on the ground.
No fiction here.
I found it interesting that Nagasaki suffered greater damage,
despite factors that might have made it seem otherwise.

A thoroughly enjoyable read. In fact, based on it's length, I would recommend it to all. Everyone will carry away something from this book.

The first part reviews details of the two bombings. Observations made after by occupying forces as well "scientific" statements that really didn't seem plausible based on growing up in the 1960's :)

Part two seems to be from John Hershey's Hiroshima. It was an interesting narrative by a German missionary in Nagasaki of the bombing and days immediately after.

Part one was better :)

A quick read, and the bits of technical and detail information through out will keep you riveted.

THE ATOMIC BOMBINGS OF HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI is a post-war military report detailing the impact of these bombings on both the cities and their inhabitants. The report consists of two parts. The first 3/4 is rather dry, consisting of detailed data regarding blast radius, biologic impact, estimated death tolls, etc. To sum this section up: if you can see a nuclear explosion, you're royally screwed, and if you're lucky you're at ground zero so you don't have to help deal with the consequences.
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The final portion of the report is a fascinating if gruesome eyewitness account as told by a group of German Jesuits who where living near and around Nagasaki. Some were within 2 kilometers from the blast, some even closer. There are quite a number of quotable phrases, but perhaps it's best to close this review with the final words of the priests:
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"The crux of the matter is whether total war in its present form is justifiable, even when it serves a just purpose. Does it not have material and spiritual evil as its consequences which far exceed whatever good that might result? When will our moralists give us a clear answer to this question? "
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When, indeed.

This is not the John Hersey Hiroshima I had to purchase as a paperback. shows the good character of the Japanese after atomic bombing and similar to the recent earthquake and tsunami