New Perspectives: Hiroshima and Nagasaki, 1998

This is a young adult book about the two cities. I feel it's more aimed at the junior high age level, but I could be wrong.

Anyhow, it has some interesting things in it, although I'm not sure about the accuracy of one of them. It quotes a historian talking about the plan for the invasion of Japan itself, and he says US casualties would be about 25,000 in Operation Olympic and 21,000 in Operation Coronet. He refers to the 500,000 casualties number as a “myth.” From what I have read in various books, his numbers are extremely, extremely low. I would tend to go with what I've read elsewhere, and that the casualties would probably have been at least two to three times that number.

The book also discusses the consideration that was given to letting the Japanese know what city the bomb would be dropped on. An objection to that was the belief that, if the Japanese knew in advance, they might move American prisoners of wars to the city. Also, there was also the possibility that the bomb might not work at all, and that would have been good propaganda for the militarists (although that would have been a result whether or not the Japanese had received warning in advance.)

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