The Hiroshima men : the quest to build the atomic bomb, and the fateful decision to use it / Iain MacGregor.
At 8:15 a.m. on August 6th, 1945, the Japanese port city of Hiroshima was struck by the world's first atomic bomb. Built in the US by the top-secret Manhattan Project and delivered by a B-29 Superfortress, a revolutionary long-range bomber, the weapon destroyed large swaths of the city, instantly killing tens of thousands. The world would never be the same again. The Hiroshima Men's unique narrative recounts the decade-long journey towards this first atomic attack. It charts the race for nuclear technology before and during the Second World War, as the allies fought the axis powers in Europe, North Africa, China, and across the vastness of the Pacific, and is seen through the experiences of several key characters: General Leslie Groves, leader of the Manhattan Project alongside Robert Oppenheimer; pioneering Army Air Force bomber pilot Colonel Paul Tibbetts II; the mayor of Hiroshima, Senkichi Awaya, who would die alongside over eighty-thousand of his fellow citizens; and Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist John Hersey, who travelled to post-war Japan to expose the devastation the bomb had inflicted upon the city, and in a historic New Yorker article, described in unflinching detail the dangers posed by its deadly after-effect, radiation poisoning. This thrilling account takes the reader from the corridors of power in the White House and the Pentagon to the test sites of New Mexico; from the air war above Germany to the Potsdam Conference of Truman, Churchill, and Stalin to the savage reconquest of the Pacific to the deadly firebombing air raids across the Japanese islands. The Hiroshima Men also includes Japanese perspectives-a vital aspect often missing from Western narratives-to complete MacGregor's nuanced, deeply human account of the bombing's meaning and aftermath.
Record details
- ISBN: 9781668038048
- ISBN: 1668038048
- Physical Description: xviii, 428 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm.
- Edition: First Scribner hardcover edition.
- Publisher: New York : Scribner, 2025.
- Copyright: ©2025
Content descriptions
- Bibliography, etc. Note:
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 371-411) and index.
- Formatted Contents Note:
- The Race for Uranium -- Fission -- Convincing the Commander in Chief -- The Writer from China -- The Emergence of American Air Power: The B-29 Program -- Committees -- Welcome to Manhattan -- "If you do the job right, it will win the war!" -- The Man in the Hat -- "Fighting for Apple Pie": John Hersey on Guadalcanal -- Worlds Colliding (The Air War) -- The Role of a Lifetime -- The Good Mayor -- A Lucky Escape: John Hersey in Europe -- Fire and Brimstone: Iwo Jima -- Welcome to "Left Over" -- A Whirlwind is Coming -- A Changing of the Guard -- Crossing the Rubicon: The Firebombing of Tokyo -- Prepare for the Worst -- Manhattan in the Marianas: The Atomic Wing Comes to Tinian -- Endgame: Okinawa -- The City of Water -- National Suicide -- The Detonation Debate -- Fallout -- Special Bombing Mission No.13 -- The Shimmering Leaves -- A Dishonorable Defeat -- Controlling the Story -- "So far from home, almost beyond return."
Search for related items by subject
- Subject:
- Manhattan Project (U.S.) > Biography.
Atomic bomb > United States > History > 20th century.
World War, 1939-1945 > United States.
World War, 1939-1945 > Japan.
United States > Military policy > Decision making.
Hiroshima-shi (Japan) > History > Bombardment, 1945.
Nagasaki-shi (Japan) > History > Bombardment, 1945. - Genre:
- Informational works.
Biographies.
Available copies
- 20 of 21 copies available at NC Cardinal. (Show)
- 1 of 1 copy available at Madison County Public Library.
Holds
- 1 current hold with 21 total copies.
Show Only Available Copies
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Madison Main Library | 355.825 MAC (Text) | 30229101318755 | Adult Nonfiction | Available | - |
