Hiroshima, Nagasaki : the real story of the atomic bombings and their aftermath /

The focus of this comprehensive history of the US discovery and use of atomic bombs is the bomb's impact on the Japanese surrender in 1945 and on the subsequent Cold War. The book is well-written and has many human-interest descriptions. The major theme is that the bomb was unnecessary. Ham argues that with Japan's non-functional military, collapsed economy, and starving population, an invasion of Japan's home islands was unnecessary. Japanese military leadership hoped for a lenient peace through Soviet mediation. The USSR's declaration of war and easy defeat of the Japanese forces undermined the morale of the Japanese leaders. Ham makes a strong case, and the effect of the Russian attack deserves stressing. There is no assurance, however, that surrender would have come before far more damage was done to Japanese cities and to US and Japanese forces. Ham's choice of evidence is a bit one-sided. For example, he plays down the military uprising against the surrender. This coup came very close to success, in spite of the fact that the second bomb had been dropped and the Soviet attack was succeeding. Summing Up: Recommended. All levels/libraries. --Paul H. Scherer, Indiana University at South Bend

*Starred Review* In 1945, in the midst of secrecy about the development of the atomic bomb and ongoing debates over the most efficient way to end the war with Japan, American leaders made the fateful decision to launch nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The bombings certainly stopped the war and destroyed its targeted cities, killing more than 100,000 people, but had they been necessary? Ham presents a forceful argument that the bombing was excessive and unjustified. Alternate chapters recount the building tension toward the awful decision by the Allies and the day-to-day lives of starving Japanese caught between their aggressive emperor and military and sure retaliation. In this sweeping and comprehensive history, Ham details the geopolitical considerations and huge egos behind evolving theories of warfare, the burgeoning killing technology of biological and nuclear war on the part of the Japanese and the Allies as well as the shameful tactic of dehumanizing the Japanese enemy. But most powerful are the eyewitness accounts of 80 survivors, ordinary people caught up in the events of war, who felt the terrible destruction of a nuclear blast and its aftermath of radiation sickness.--Bush, Vanessa Copyright 2014 Booklist

Australian journalist Ham (Sandakan) re-examines the atomic attacks on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, confronting the popularly held belief that the nuclear attacks were justified because they ended WWII in the Pacific without a costly invasion of Japan's home islands. Ham's central argument is that such an invasion would not have occurred because the American leadership had deemed it too costly in potential U.S. casualties. Ham backs up his assertion by pointing out that both American and Japanese commands were well aware that Japan was already defeated by the summer of 1945 through the combined effects of naval blockade and conventional air bombardment. He counters the common justification for the atomic attacks by proposing that the strongest influence for the attacks was the threat of Russia entering the Pacific War and dominating Asia after the war. An absorbing and thoroughly researched work, it is a must-read for those interested in the moral aspects of total war and military strategy in general. Ham's work will be cited as an important addition to a debate that continues 70 years after the event. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

The debate over the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki has waxed and waned over the past 70 years, with strong opinions both for and against. Gar Alperovitz's 1996 study set the stage for the most recent historiographical investigations, and Ham's latest survey updates the conversation. This deeply researched narrative is especially valuable for its attention to the daily lives of Japanese individuals who experienced the destruction firsthand. Ham (correspondent, London's Sunday Times) also provides detailed background on the science behind the development of the atomic weapon and how it came to be used the first time. He asserts that the bombings were an unnecessary exercise in demonstrating American military power, arguing that the Japanese were mostly defeated by a recent economic blockade and an ineffectual army. The Soviet invasion of Japanese Manchuria on August 9, 1945-the same day as the bombing of Nagasaki-and the decision to retain Emperor Hirohito empowered moderates within the Japanese government to believe surrender was a foregone conclusion. Verdict Ham's excellent work will serve as the next installment in the ongoing debate. Essential for libraries with military collections as well as casual readers interested in World War II.-Ed Goedeken, Iowa State Univ. Lib., Ames (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

A provocative look at the closing days of the Japanese Empire and the long shadow cast ever after by the atomic bomb.The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki did not have to happen: Thus, in a nutshell, isSunday TimesAustralia correspondent Hams (1913: The Eve of War, 2013, etc.) position, as distinct from that of many authors and historians who have insisted that the United States would have suffered more than 1 million casualties in any invasion of the Japanese mainland. Hams lines of argument introduce several profitable data points: For one thing, the emperor seemed inclined to peace even as the peace faction within his government grew with the dawning realization of the inevitability of defeat. For another thing, the destruction of the two cities, which were not of primary military value, was as much a signal to Joseph Stalin that that is what awaited his country as it was an effort to force the peace with Japan. Ham also looks at pregnant counterfactuals: What if Harry Truman had taken Henry Stimsons suggestion and approached the Soviets as partners, committing with the other Allies not to use atomic weapons without the consent of all involved? Of a piece with W.G. Sebald in the matter of the bombing of Dresden and other German cities, Ham argues persuasively that the atomic destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki represented but two episodes in an all-out process of deliberate civilian annihilationa process, interestingly, that found many critics in American churches who quietly registered their Christian disapproval of the mass killing of noncombatants.A valuable contribution to the literature of World War II that asks its readers to rethink much of what theyve been taught about Americas just cause. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.