Hiroshima Why America Dropped the Atomic Bomb

by Takaki, Ronald

• ISBN13: 9780316831246
• ISBN10: 0316831247
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1996-09-01
• Publisher: Back Bay Books

Summary

The bombing of Hiroshima was one of the pivotal events of the twentieth century, yet this controversial question remains unresolved. At the time, General Dwight Eisenhower, General Douglas MacArthur, and chief of staff Admiral William Leahy all agreed that an atomic attack on Japanese cities was unnecessary. All of them believed that Japan had already been beaten and that the war would soon end. Was the bomb dropped to end the war more quickly? Or did it herald the start of the Cold War? In his probing new study, prizewinning historian Ronald Takaki explores these factors and more. He considers the cultural context of race - the ways in which stereotypes of the Japanese influenced public opinion and policymakers - and also probes the human dimension. Relying on top secret military reports, diaries, and personal letters, Takaki relates international policies to the individuals involved: Los Alamos director J. Robert Oppenheimer, Secretary of State James Byrnes, Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson, and others... but above all, Harry Truman.

Author Biography

Ronald Takaki is a professor of Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Berkeley.

Table of Contents

"A Past That Is Not Even Past"	p. 3
"Several Suns in Midday"	p. 12
To Save "Half a Million" American Lives	p. 22
The "Overriding Concern": Two Schools of Thought	p. 53
Remembering Pearl Harbor	p. 69
Where the Buck Stopped	p. 101
Hiroshima: Faces of War and Humanity	p. 121
Notes	p. 153
Index	p. 185
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