Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb: And the Architecture of an American Myth - Hardcover

Alperovitz, Gar

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0679443312 ISBN 13: 9780679443315

Publisher: Knopf, 1995

Synopsis

Stating that the United States did not have to use the atomic bomb in order to win the war, a detailed study profiles a defeated Japan while citing the influences of such figures as Dwight Eisenhower and James F. Byrnes on the decision. 50,000 first printing. Tour.

About this title

About the Author

Gar Alperovitz is Senior Research Scientist in the Department of Government and Politics at the University of Maryland.

Reviews

Alperovitz is the dean of revisionist scholars who argue that the nuclear bombing of Japan was unnecessary and that America bears a hefty responsibility for the cold war. Since he established his reputation in the mid-1960s, secret documents regarding the run-up to Enola Gay's takeoff have come to light, which Alperovitz believes strengthen his case. His main and probably most controversial contention is that certain documents pertaining to the decision were doctored, some by none other than Truman himself. Further, Alperovitz sees James Byrnes, Truman's Mephistophelian secretary of state, as a furtive player who nixed such alternative plans as modifying the unconditional-surrender demand and encouraging a Russian declaration of war. What about the military leaders, many of whom expressed regrets about the wisdom of the decision, albeit post facto? Alperovitz presents documents that suggest their invasion plans were notional exercises, not realistic probabilities. But his point about their regrets opens the way to his major thesis: deceit by ex-officials, over the decades, has convinced the public that the bombings were justified. Formidably researched, this challenging landmark history may not automatically convert Alperovitz's revisionist views into the new orthodoxy, but they will be referred to for proof or refutation for years to come. Gilbert Taylor

The president of the National Center for Economic Alternatives argues that against all advice President Truman was persuaded to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima by incoming Secretary of State James F. Byrnes, who saw the bomb as an important tool for dealing with the Soviets after the war.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Knopf
• Publication date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0679443312
• ISBN 13: 9780679443315
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 843