World Disasters: Hiroshima

The first chapter talks about the sense of unity in Japan, and how the people of Japan were not told the truth about how the war was going. The second chapter talks about the atomic bomb and Truman's decision to use it.

The book says “Most people considered the killing of civilians during wartime to be immoral...” and this was a dilemma about using the bomb, since many civilians would be killed without warning. Yet, the United States had been steadily firebombing over fifty Japanese cities, most without any warning, and massive numbers of people had been killed that way, so I don't see how it could be said the use of the atomic bomb was a “dilemma” on that basis.

The third chapter talks about Hiroshima before the bomb fell that morning, and does mention U.S. POWs that were in the city at the time of the explosion. There is also some eye-witness testimony from people in Hiroshima who lived through the explosion.

The description of what happened, by the way, is extremely vivid. Young children should not read this book.

The next chapter talks about shortly after the bomb, and then after that. It notes 42 of 45 hospitals in the city had been destroyed in the blast and fire. The next chapter talks about the controversy over whether or not the bombing was necessary.

The book includes photos, a glossary, and a listing of other resources. Again, it is a very graphic book, and parents probably should discuss it with any of their children who read it.

Main Index
Japan main page
Japanese-American Internment Camps index page
Japan and World War II index page