The Columbia Guide to Hiroshima and the Bomb

by Michael Kort

Overview

Few aspects of American military history have been as vigorously debated as Harry Truman's decision to use atomic bombs against Japan. In this carefully crafted volume, Michael Kort describes the wartime circumstances and thinking that form the context for the decision to use these weapons, surveys the major debates related to that decision, and provides a comprehensive collection of key primary source documents that illuminate the behavior of the United States and Japan during the closing days of World War II.

Kort opens with a summary of the debate over Hiroshima as it has evolved since 1945. He then provides a historical overview of thye events in question, beginning with the decision and program to build the atomic bomb. Detailing the sequence of events leading to Japan's surrender, he revisits the decisive battles of the Pacific War and the motivations of American and Japanese leaders. Finally, Kort examines ten key issues in the discussion of Hiroshima and guides readers to relevant primary source documents, scholarly books, and articles.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780231130165
Publisher:	Columbia University Press
Publication date:	04/10/2007
Series:	Columbia Guides to American History and Cultures
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	456
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Michael Kort is professor of social science at Boston University's College of General Studies. He received his B.A. in history from Johns Hopkins University and his M.A. and Ph.D. in Russian history from New York University. He is the author of several books on the history of the Soviet Union and the Cold War, including The Soviet Colossus: History and Aftermath (sixth edition, 2006) and The Columbia Guide to the Cold War (1998).
Michael Kort is a professor of social science at Boston University's College of General Studies. He is the author of several books on the Soviet Union and Cold War history including The Handbook of the Former Soviet Union; The Soviet Colossus: History and Aftermath; and The Columbia Guide to the Cold War.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction
Part I. Historical Narrative
1. The Debate Over Hiroshima
2. Building the Atomic Bomb
3. The Pacific War
4. The Decision to Drop the Bomb
5. The Japanese Government, Ketsu-Go, and Potsdam
6. Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and Japan's Surrender
7. Hiroshima and American Power
Part II. Key Questions and Interpretations
Part III. Resources
Chronology
Glossary of Military Terms and Abbreviations
Glossary of Names
Selected Bibliography
Part IV. Documents
Guide to the Documents
A. American Civilian Documents
B. American Military Documents
C. MAGIC Diplomatic Summaries
D. Japanese Government Documents, Military Documents, and Diary Entries
E. Japanese Surrender Documents
F. United States Strategic Bombing Survey: Summary Report and Interrogations of Japanese Officials
G. Statements of Japanese Officials on World War II, Military Intelligence Section, Historical Division, U.S. Army
Notes
Index

What People are Saying About This

Robert Maddox

This splendid volume provides both a comprehensive selection of documents and the author's own incisive analyses of various controversial issues. If I had to recommend just one book on the subject, this would be it.

— Robert Maddox, author of Weapons for Victory: The Hiroshima Decision

D.M. Giangreco

With fully 250 pages of well-chosen documents filling its second half, it would have been easy for a book like this to be a challenge to work with. But the cross-referencing between text and document is crafted with such care and precision that the final product is remarkably easy to navigate.

D. M. Giangreco

With fully 250 pages of well-chosen documents filling its second half, it would have been easy for a book like this to be a challenge to work with. But the cross-referencing between text and document is crafted with such care and precision that the final product is remarkably easy to navigate.

— D. M. Giangreco, Moncado Prize-winning author of "Casualty Projections for the U.S. Invasion of Japan, 1945-1946: Planning and Policy Implications"

Richard B. Frank

For the scholar, the student, or the interested citizen this work towers above the rest as a superb and even-handed summary of the searing controversy over the end of the Pacific War. But what transforms this into an instant and indispensable classic is the judicious and comprehensive set of original documents. They remove the blinkers of rival interpretations and offer a unique opportunity for a firsthand probe of the realities of 1945.

— Richard B. Frank, author of Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire

Editorial Reviews

By giving the nuclear debate life before the Cold War, Kort revitalizes it for a new complex era. The Columbia Guide to Hiroshima and the Bomb makes a valuable contribution.

Peace and Change - Jay Larson

Innovative.

Philip Nash

Lucid and careful summaries of the issues...[a] substantial and well-chosen collection of documents from American and Japanese sources

Foreign Affairs - Lawrence D. Freedman

An indispensable book.

Journal of Cold War Studies - Robert James Maddox

A rich resource to the complex and often profoundly controversial questions surrounding the bomb of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.

Reference & Research Book News

Not only comprehensive but so engaging... This is a book for every library.

Joe P. Dunnn Reference Books Annual

Not only comprehensive but so engaging... This is a book for every library.

American Reference Books Annual - Joe P. Dunn

By giving the nuclear debate life before the Cold War, Kort revitalizes it for a new complex era. The Columbia Guide to Hiroshima and the Bomb makes a valuable contribution.

— Jay Larson

Peace & Change

Innovative.

— Philip Nash

H-Diplo

An indispensable book.

— Robert James Maddox

Journal of Cold War Studies

Not only comprehensive but so engaging... This is a book for every library.

— Joe P. Dunn

American Reference Books Annual

Lucid and careful summaries of the issues...[a] substantial and well-chosen collection of documents from American and Japanese sources

— Lawrence D. Freedman

Foreign Affairs

Not only comprehensive but so engaging... This is a book for every library.

— Joe P. Dunn

American Reference Books AnnualMichael Kort is a professor of social science at Boston University's

By giving the nuclear debate life before the Cold War, Kort revitalizes it for a new complex era. The Columbia Guide to Hiroshima and the Bomb makes a valuable contribution.

— Jay Larson

Peace and Change

Not only comprehensive but so engaging... This is a book for every library.

— Joe P. Dunn

American Reference Books Annual

Michael Kort is a professor of social science at Boston University