Prompt and Utter Destruction: Truman and the Use of Atomic Bombs Against Japan - Softcover

J. Samuel Walker

Softcover

ISBN 10: 146962897X ISBN 13: 9781469628974

Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press, 2016

Synopsis

Updated to include recent scholarly findings-a balanced andconcise look at a still-controversial decision In this concise account of why America used atomic bombs against Japanin 1945, J. Samuel Walker analyzes the reasons behind President Truman'smost controversial decision. Delineating what was known and not knownby American leaders at the time, Walker evaluates the options availablefor ending the war with Japan. In this new edition, Walker incorporates adecade of new research-mostly from Japanese archives only recently madeavailable-that provides fresh insight on the strategic considerations that ledto dropping the bomb. From the debate about whether to invade or continuethe conventional bombing of Japan to Tokyo's agonizing deliberations oversurrender and the effects of both low- and high-level radiation exposure,Walker continues to shed light on one of the most earthshaking moments inhistory. Rising above an often polemical debate, the third edition presents anaccessible synthesis of previous work and new research to help make sense ofthe events that ushered in the atomic age.

About this title

About the Author

J. Samuel Walker is a prize-winning historian and author of books on the history of American foreign policy, nuclear energy, and college basketball.

Edition details

• Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
• Publication date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 146962897X
• ISBN 13: 9781469628974
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 3
• Number of pages: 168