Hiroshima - The World's Bomb (2008) (THE MAKING OF THE MODERN WORLD)

The title of this book is somewhat misleading as it covers far more ground than simply an account of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. The book traces the development of the A-bomb (though at a high level, and the reader interested in this subject would be far better off reading "The Making of the Atomic Bomb" by Richard Rhodes). Alongside this the author lays out the parallel development of strategic bombing and the degeneration of morals on all sides as a result of the brutalities of the World War, both of which contributed to the climate in which the decision to use the weapon was made. The actual description of the events at Hiroshima takes up very little space as the author moves on to describe (again at a high level) the subsequent proliferation of nuclear weapons almost to the present day. The book adopts a clear moral stance as regards the bombing, and while hedging somewhat, it is clear the author does not believe the bombings were a necessary part of winning the war against Japan. The decision to use the bomb is presented as almost inevitable with few of those involved expressing any serious moral reservations at the time. Furthermore, the author appears to believe, the bombings were far more a geopolitical statement to the Soviet Union rather than a military step to defeat Japan. Unfortunately the book offers little new on the subject other than the idea that the bomb was the "world's bomb". This idea is based on the multi-national nature of the scientists that developed the theory and practical usage of the nuclear weapon and on the moral climate that made its use feasible. These are thin arguments at best. While the theoretical developments in early 20th century physics were certainly spread across the international scientific community, the Manhatten Project, despite critical contributions from the British and European scientists, was very much an American endeavor. More importantly, the decision to use the weapon was entirely an American one. As to the moral climate of the times, few if any, of the leaders of the Allied or Axis powers would have demurred from using the bomb had it been available to them, and a majority of their populations would have supported that decision. But this does not constitute a basis for calling it the "world's bomb". In all honesty the bomb was clearly an American Bomb with all that entails. As for the history of the bomb and the associated physics this is better described in Rhodes' excellent book, the history of air power and the war in general can be found in specialist works covering those domains, and the arguments for and against the use of the bomb are well known to anyone familiar with 20th century history. If you are unfamiliar with this subject matter then the book is a good overview. If you are familiar with the subject then this work will likely add little to your knowledge. Cover 1 HIROSHIMA: THE WORLD'S BOMB 4 Praise for Hiroshima 7 Acknowledgements 8 Contents 10 Plates 12 Introduction: The World’s Bomb 14 ONE The World's Atom 20 1. Dissecting the atom 20 2. The republic of science 24 3. The republic threatened: the adventof poisonous gas 27 4. The ethics of battlefield gas 31 5. Scientists and states: the Soviet Union and the United States 35 6. The ethical obligations of scientists 40 TWO Great Britain: Refugees, Air Power, and the Possibility of the Bomb 44 1. Hitler’s gifts, Britain’s scientists 46 2. The advent of air power 56 3. War again, and the new doctrine of air bombardment 64 4. The discovery of nuclear fission, and the bomb reimagined 67 THREE Japan and Germany: Paths not Taken 72 1. Finding uranium 72 2. The Germans advance 75 3. Japan’s nuclear projects 77 4. Germany’s nuclear projects 82 5. The Americans and British move forward 96 FOUR The United States I: Imagining and Building the Bomb 101 1. The MAUD Committee and the Americans 101 2. The Americans get serious 104 3. To war 109 4. Resolving to build and use the bomb 111 5. Oppie 116 6. Groves 121 7. Centralizing the project 124 8. Fissions: uranium and plutonium 125 9. Life and work on ‘The Hill’ 129 10. A different sort of weapon 133 FIVE The United States II: Using the Bomb 140 1. The progress of the war against Germany 144 2. The allies and the strategic bombing of Germany 146 3. The war in the Pacific 150 4. The bombing of Japan 154 5. The firebombings and the atomic bombs 158 6. Doubters 161 7. The dismissal of doubt 165 8. To Alamogordo, July 1945 171 9. Truman at Potsdam 174 10. Why the bombs were dropped 179 11. Alternatives to the atomic bombs, and moralobjections to attacking civilians 185 12. The threshold of horror: Poison gas 187 SIX Japan: The Atomic Bombsand War’s End 190 1. Japan in retreat 190 2. Preparing to fight the invaders 197 3. Preparing to drop Little Boy 200 4. Mission No. 13 203 5. The bombed city 206 6. The bombed people 209 7. Patterns of response 215 8. The shock waves from the bomb 218 9. Soviet entry and the bombing of Nagasaki 221 10. The Big Six debates 224 11. Explaining Japan’s surrender 230 12. Assessing the damage in Hiroshima and Nagasaki 233 13. ‘Nothing, Nothing’: Memories of Hiroshima 236 SEVEN The Soviet Union: The Bomb and the Cold War 241 1. The American response 245 2. The early Soviet nuclear program 249 3. The Soviets’ atomic spies 251 4. Stalin decides to build the bomb 257 5. The bomb and the onset of the Cold War 260 6. Call/response: Developing the ‘super’ 268 7. The arms race and nuclear diversity 276 8. The limits of atomic weapons: The Cuban missile crisis 279 EIGHT The World’s Bomb 283 1. Great Britain 287 2. The French atomic bomb 293 3. Israel: Security and status 299 4. South Africa: To the nuclear brink and back 302 5. China: The people’s bomb 305 6. India: Status, religion, and masculinity 308 7. The critics of nuclear weapons 313 Epilogue Nightmares and Hopes 317 Notes 323 Introduction: The World’s Bomb 323 Chapter One. The World’s Atom 323 Chapter Two. Great Britain: Refugees, Air Power, and the Possibility of the Bomb 325 Chapter Three. Japan and Germany: Paths not Taken 327 Chapter Four. The United States I: Imagining and Building the Bomb 330 Chapter Five. The United States II: Using the Bomb 334 Chapter Six. Japan: The Atomic Bombsand War’s End 339 Chapter Seven. The Soviet Union: The Bomb and the Cold War 344 Chapter Eight. The World's Bomb 349 Epilogue: Nightmares and Hopes 352 Bibliographical Essay 353 Chapter One. The World’s Atom 354 Chapter Two. Great Britain: Refugees, Air Power, and the Possibility of the Bomb 355 Chapter Three. Japan and Germany: Paths not Taken 356 Chapter Four. The United States I: Imagining and Building the Bomb 357 Chapter Five. The United States II: Using the Bomb 358 Chapter Six. Japan: The Atomic Bombsand War’s End 362 Chapter Seven. The Soviet Union: The Bomb and the Cold War 363 Chapter Eight. The World's Bomb 366 Credits 369 Images 369 Poetry 369 Index 370 The US decision to drop an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 remains one of the most controversial events of the twentieth century. However, the controversy over the rights and wrongs of dropping the bomb has tended to obscure a number of fundamental and sobering truths about the development of this fearsome weapon. The principle of killing thousands of enemy civilians from the air was already well established by 1945 and had been practised on numerous occasions by both sides during the Second World War. Moreover, the bomb dropped on Hiroshima was conceived and built by an international community of scientists, not just by the Americans. Other nations (including Japan and Germany) were also developing atomic bombs in the first half of the 1940s, albeit hapharzardly. Indeed, it is difficult to imagine any combatant nation foregoing the use of the bomb during the war had it been able to obtain one. The international team of scientists organized by the Americans just got there first. As this fascinating new history shows, the bomb dropped by a US pilot that hot August morning in 1945 was in many ways the world's offspring, in both a technological and a moral sense. And it was the world that would have to face its consequences, strategically, diplomatically, and culturally, in the years ahead. The US decision to drop an atomic bomb on Hiroshima remains one of the most controversial events of the twentieth century. But as this fascinating new history shows, the bomb dropped by an American pilot that hot August morning was in many ways the world's bomb, in both a technological and a moral sense. And it was the world that would have to face its consequences, strategically, diplomatically, and culturally, in the years ahead. In this fast-paced and insightful narrative, Andrew J. Rotter tells the international story behind the development of the atom bomb, ranging from the global crises that led to the Second World War to the largely unavailing attempts to control the spread of nuclear weapons and the evolution of the nuclear arms race after the war had ended. He details the growth in the 1930s and '40s of a world-wide community of scientists dedicated to developing a weapon that could undo the evil in Nazi Germany, and he describes the harnessing of their efforts by the US wartime government. Rotter also sheds light on the political and strategic decisions that led to the bombing itself, the impact of the bomb on Hiroshima and the endgame of the Pacific War, the effects of the bombing and the bomb on society and culture, and the state of all things nuclear in the early 21st-century world. The international history of the development of the atomic bomb, its first use against Japan, and the Cold War nuclear arms race that it gave rise to. - ;The US decision to drop an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 remains one of the most controversial events of the twentieth century. However, the controversy over the rights and wrongs of dropping the bomb has tended to obscure a number of fundamental and sobering truths about the development of this fearsome weapon An insightful and fast-paced narrative reveals the international story behind the development of the atom bomb and illuminates a pivotal moment in the development of the modern age, as it discusses the crises that led to the Second World War, unsuccessful attempts to control the spread of nuclear weapons, the political and strategic decisions that led to the bomb, and its implications for the modern world. "The American decision to drop an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 was one of the most controversial events of the twentieth century. Yet, as this new history shows, the first atom bomb was not just an American invention. The race to create and deploy the atom bomb was international, and the consequences of that race are carried by the whole world to this day"--Page 4 of cover "The American decision to drop and atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 was one of the most controversial events of the twentieth century. Yet, as this new history shows, the first atom bomb was not just an American inventon. The race to create and deploy the atom bomb was international, and the consequences of that race are carrued by the whole world to this day."--Back cover

The American decision to drop an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 was one of the most controversial events of the twentieth century. Yet, as this new history shows, the first atom bomb was not just an American invention. The race to create and deploy the atom bomb was international, and the consequences of that race are carried by the whole world to this day.

Reveals the international story behind the creation of the atom bomb and the development of the modern age, as it discusses the crises that led to the Second World War, unsuccessful attempts to control the spread of nuclear weapons, the political and strategic decisions that led to the bomb, and its implications for the modern world