The Most Controversial Decision: Truman, the Atomic Bombs, and the Defeat of Japan (Cambridge Essential Histories) - Softcover

Miscamble, Wilson D

Softcover

ISBN 10: 052173536X ISBN 13: 9780521735360

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2011

Synopsis

This book explores the American use of atomic bombs and the role these weapons played in the defeat of the Japanese Empire in World War II. It focuses on President Harry S. Truman's decision-making regarding this most controversial of all his decisions. The book relies on notable archival research and the best and most recent scholarship on the subject to fashion an incisive overview that is fair and forceful in its judgments. This study addresses a subject that has been much debated among historians and it confronts head-on the highly disputed claim that the Truman administration practised 'atomic diplomacy'. The book goes beyond its central historical analysis to ask whether it was morally right for the United States to use these terrible weapons against Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It also provides a balanced evaluation of the relationship between atomic weapons and the origins of the Cold War.

About this title

Review:

'Drawing on the many scholarly works that discuss the reasons why President Harry S. Truman and his closest advisers considered that the use of the atomic bomb against Japan in August 1945 was a necessary measure, the circumstances that surrounded the Japanese decision to surrender, and the role that possession of the atomic bomb may have played in American diplomacy towards the Soviet Union, Wilson Miscamble has also utilised his own formidable knowledge of the primary sources to produce a wonderfully compressed and trenchantly argued book.' International Affairs

Book Description:

This book asks and answers a number of key questions. Why were the atomic bombs used against Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945? What role did they play in Japan's surrender? The book also explores the morality of the bombs' use and asks if it was right for the United States to use these powerful weapons.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 052173536X
• ISBN 13: 9780521735360
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 190