Customer Reviews

Thank God for the Atom Bomb

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The title essay alone is worth the price of the book. This is a thoughtful, and irrefutable analysis of the reasons for the decision and the correctness of it. It is the only analysis I had read when I first read this essay years ago, which pointed out that Hiroshima and Nagasake were 5 days apart. Clearly, no warning would have been enough to cause the Japanese to surrender because the first bomb alone was not enough to bring about their surrender.

For those who think that it was wrong to drop the bomb knowing it would hit civilians, how about the heavy bombing of Tokyo done with conventional bombs. There was no ability to bomb very selectively in those days. Based on the losses suffered in invading Okinawa, including the number of Japanese Civilians killed in that invasion, it can reasonably be argued that, as a result of the two bombs being dropped, and the ultimate surrender of the Japanese leadership, fewer Japanese civilians were killed than would have been killed in the invasion of Japan.

I admit, I was attracted to this book because of the title. Our library had it featured on its web page with some excerpts and I was intrigued. I was not disappointed.

The title essay is simply brilliant. It is also caustic, blunt and nuanced. I'll refer to it before the next time I teach about World War II.

There are two more essays on World War II. I found the two essays on George Orwell to be most interesting. His commentary on the differences between tourism and travel reminded me of the Twain essays I've been reading lately. "Taking It All Off In The Balkans" is the account of his visit to a nudist resort in the former Yugoslavia - very funny and (I've got to say it) revealing.

Two essays were just not interesting to me, being mainly about poetry and I find myself unable to muster the interest to read poetry, let alone read extensive commentary on it. I skimmed those.

The essay on the 2nd Ammendment ("A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.") comes off as a poorly-researched rant as opposed to the well-researched arguments made in the Atom Bomb essays. It stands out in this collection for that reason.

The other oddball essay is my 2nd favorite (after the title essay). Fussell went to the Indy 500. Try to imagine an East Coast college professor who writes about poetry standing around Indy's infamous snakepit and the guys with the "Show us your t_ts" signs. Fussell's comments are quite observant and show that he really spent some time walking around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and getting a feel for racing in general. Having just attended my 24th Indy 500 six days ago I was especially interested in his comments. I would be most interested in seeing Fussell's thoughts at having more racial diversity in the fields and 3 women in the race nowadays.

All that needs to be said is that this is a very heartfelt and brilliant book. It deals in one detailed chapter with the reasons for a very difficult historical fact. The reasons given are very personal and thus, on one level I believe, unassailable, since the author contends he would have lost his own life but for the fateful decision. Worth considering for those given to quick judgments on the matter.

I brought it with me to Japan when I went over on the JET program and I've talked about it with Japanese people. The title essay is excellent as is his evaluation of Orwell. His followups to the discussion on "Thank God for the Atom Bomb" which appeared in The New Republic are superb as well.

But Fussell is old and curmudgeonly, not conservative. He'd be better placed with other progressives who remember the poor and the working class (not just spout slogans from a comfortable position at a university or with an institute or interest group). People like Kurt Vonnegut, Studs Terkel, Howard Zinn. Or the ones he mentions like James Jones.

Indeed, Fussell wrote the definitive book on American social and economic class and classism, named simply "Class." It's his most famous book and completely brilliant and irrefutable. You don't have to agree with his evaluation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to evaluate it fairly. And, as he points out, he was usually criticized by people too young to fight in the second world war, or who were completely removed from danger.

The people with full awareness of the dangers involved who are genuinely irresponsible about nuclear weapons are the Republicans. First, the ones during JFK's administration who wanted him impeached for sharing DEW information with the Russians to prevent an accidental nuclear exchange. Second, the ones pushing Reagan and his change from detente and the hot line to "rapid response" and even "first strike" and third Bush and his supporters, who have dared to build a new generation of Fat Man and Little Boy to be used in an aggressive first strike on unarmed civilian populations who have not only not attacked the United States but often have very little means of resisting overwhelming US technology.

What God has to do with it ? It s a shame we re still fighting in His name .

I ve seen the reaction of the Enola [...] crew when they really saw what they did.

The motive for Fussell's Te Deum is that he was among those enlisted to take part in the invasion of Japan, and he might have been killed .

Although a still useful book to understand the way people thought ( sometimes I think they still do )in the past , it s not worth the time if you re not a historian .

It s a bit shameful point trying to justify killing Japanese women and children. In the first place he'd better criticise those in Washington who conscripted him to fight.

Remember all wars are only fought in people's name and they put God as a disguise. Whatever god they must pray to but isn t surely in their hearts but in their pockets.