Hiroshima in America - Hardcover

Lifton, R.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0399140727 ISBN 13: 9780399140723

Publisher: Putnam Adult, 1995

Synopsis

In a study of the impact of the use of the atomic bomb, two historians argue that information and debate about President Harry Truman's decision, in August 1945, to drop the bomb on Japan have been suppressed in order to prevent criticism of America.

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Reviews

President Truman was ambivalent about the decision to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Yet, according to this unsettling study, Truman, influenced by army general Leslie Groves and Secretary of War Henry Stimson, went into denial and developed a sense of omnipotence that allowed him to deploy weapons that killed vast numbers of civilians. Eminent psychologist Lifton (whose National Book Award-winning Death in Life dealt with Hiroshima survivors) and former Nuclear Times editor Mitchell (The Campaign of the Century) draw on primary sources, including the diaries of Truman and other decision-makers, in an attempt to refute the widely held belief that the atomic bombings hastened WWII's end, thereby preventing an invasion of Japan and saving countless American lives. The authors demonstrate that the U.S. military and media for decades systematically suppressed on-site photographs, as well as American and Japanese documentary films, that showed the devastation produced by the bombs. They argue that the lasting, harmful impact of Hiroshima on American society includes a defense policy in thrall to nuclear weaponry, self-propelling arms buildups, patterns of psychic numbing and secrecy and denial of the health effects of radiation from bombs and from U.S. nuclear waste dumps. BOMC and History Book Club selections.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Lifton (The Journey of the Adopted Self, LJ 3/1/94) and Mitchell (The Campaign of the Century, LJ 4/1/92) bring their expertise to bear in this well-researched book examining the reaction of the American people to the bombing of Hiroshima in 1945 and its domestic aftermath. The authors examine what they perceive to be a conspiracy by the government to mislead and suppress information about the actual bombing, Truman's decision to drop the bomb, and the birth and mismanagement of the beginning of the nuclear age. The authors claim that Americans then and now are haunted by the devastating psychological effects of the bomb. The most interesting aspect of their book is the analysis of Truman. The development of nuclear weapons and the bombing of Hiroshima will continue to foment debate and will be of interest to students of history and current affairs. Highly recommended for most collections.?C. Christopher Pavek, Putnam, Hayes & Bartlett, Inc. Information Ctr., Washington, D.C.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Putnam Adult
• Publication date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0399140727
• ISBN 13: 9780399140723
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 425