Prompt and utter destruction

More than fifty years later, the decision that brought prompt and utter destruction to the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki continues to generate enormous interest and controversy. In this concise and balanced account, J. Samuel Walker offers a new look at the events and circumstances that lay behind President Truman's use of atomic bombs against Japan. Combining extensive documentary research with a critical reading of both American and Japanese scholarship, Walker examines the popular mythology about how the decision was made, delineating what was known and not known by American leaders at the time and evaluating the role of U.S.-Soviet relations and American domestic politics. Rising above an often polemical debate, he presents an accessible synthesis of previous work and an important, original contribution to our understanding of the events that ushered in the atomic age.

First sentence: Despite an expression that suggested fatigue and strain, President Harry S. Truman strode briskly into the meeting he had ordered with his most trusted advisers.

Year

1997

Language

English

Publisher

The University of North Carolina Press

Editions

1

Pages

160

ISBN

9780807856079

Data source: Wikidata