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A review by cjmckeon
Hiroshima Nagasaki: The Real Story of the Atomic Bombings and Their Aftermath by Paul Ham
5.0
As well as describing the sheer horror of a nuclear explosion, Paul Ham looks at the reasons behind it and, interestingly, the semi-cover up of what happened next, with the American authorities claiming nobody who entered the city after the explosions could have been affected by radiation and underplaying the effects of radiation sickness.
But the real point of Hiroshima Nagasaki is that it was all totally unnecessary.
Japan’s cities had already been pulverised by conventional bombing and even after the nuclear attacks the Japanese terms of surrender didn’t change - it was the American guarantee that the imperial system could remain that finally persuaded them to surrender, and would have done months before without the need for hundreds of thousands of civilian casualties.
Ham also makes a persuasive argument that, with Truman having already ruled out invading mainland Japan, the argument that it saved lives carries little weight (and it certainly wouldn’t have been anything like the million deaths claimed at the time).
Instead, the bomb was about intimidating the Soviets, testing out their new weapon and - least attractive of all - revenge. Revenge for Pearl Harbour, the Bataan death march and Okinawa.
It’s difficult to avoid the conclusion that the atomic bombings were both unnecessary and targeted civilians - in other words, they were a war crime.
But the real point of Hiroshima Nagasaki is that it was all totally unnecessary.
Japan’s cities had already been pulverised by conventional bombing and even after the nuclear attacks the Japanese terms of surrender didn’t change - it was the American guarantee that the imperial system could remain that finally persuaded them to surrender, and would have done months before without the need for hundreds of thousands of civilian casualties.
Ham also makes a persuasive argument that, with Truman having already ruled out invading mainland Japan, the argument that it saved lives carries little weight (and it certainly wouldn’t have been anything like the million deaths claimed at the time).
Instead, the bomb was about intimidating the Soviets, testing out their new weapon and - least attractive of all - revenge. Revenge for Pearl Harbour, the Bataan death march and Okinawa.
It’s difficult to avoid the conclusion that the atomic bombings were both unnecessary and targeted civilians - in other words, they were a war crime.