The Bomb: Nuclear Weapons in Their Historical, Strategic and Ethical Context (Turning Points (Longman (Firm)).)

This tightly argued and profoundly thought provoking book tackles a huge subject: the coming of the nuclear age with bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, and the ways in which it has changed our lives since. Dr Heuser sets these events in their historical context and tackles key issues about the effect of nuclear weapons on modern attitudes to conflict, and on the ethics of warfare. Ducking nothing, she demystifies the subject, seeing `the bomb' not as something unique and paralysing, but as an integral part of the strategic and moral context of our time. For a wide multidisciplinary and general readership. "Dr. Heuser asks whether the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki constitutes a turning point in history. She explores how crucial the bombing of the two Japanese cities really was in bringing the war in the Far East to a conclusion. She explores the concept of Total War - i.e. the concept which hinges on the deliberate extermination of enemy civilians through war - and considers how close the democratic powers came to waging it through their city bombing campaigns." "In her final two chapters Dr. Heuser looks at how nuclear strategy squares with Western humanitarian thinking (and efforts to limit the effects of wars on civilians); and the role of war in relation to the development of human societies through history, and the influence which nuclear weapons have had." "This book will be essential reading for students getting to grips with the complex issues surrounding the coming of the nuclear age in departments of War Studies, International Relations and Modern History. It will also be welcomed by the interested general reader."--Jacket Considering the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and how our lives have changed since, Dr Heuser sets the key issues in their broadest context, looking at the effect of nuclear weapons on modern attitudes to conflict, and on the ethics of warfare Tightly-argued and profoundly thought-provoking, this history considers the birth of the nuclear age and its impact on the world and attitudes to modern warfare.