Hiroshima: Why America Dropped the Atomic Bomb

by Ronald Takaki

The bombing of Hiroshima was one of the pivotal events of the twentieth century, yet this controversial question remains unresolved. At the time, General Dwight Eisenhower, General Douglas MacArthur, and chief of staff Admiral William Leahy all agreed that an atomic attack on Japanese cities was unnecessary. All of them believed that Japan had already been beaten and that the war would soon end. Was the bomb dropped to end the war more quickly? Or did it herald the start of the Cold War? In his probing new study, prizewinning historian Ronald Takaki explores these factors and more. He considers the cultural context of race - the ways in which stereotypes of the Japanese influenced public opinion and policymakers - and also probes the human dimension. Relying on top secret military reports, diaries, and personal letters, Takaki relates international policies to the individuals Los Alamos director J. Robert Oppenheimer, Secretary of State James Byrnes, Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson, and others... but above all, Harry Truman.

Genres: History, Japan, Nonfiction, World War II, War, Politics, American History

208 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Ronald Toshiyuki Takaki was an American academic, historian, ethnographer and author.

Reviews

[Nikolai · Rating 2 out of 5]

Takaki, a person who has written on the history of race relations-coming from a non-white - Japanese in the United States (this will be important later) , who is neither an expert in either military history or diplomatic history, writes on the history behind, and why the US dropped the atomic bombs on Japan. He does this almost entirely from secondary sources, almost all of his citations (there is, unfortunately, no bibliography) are from the major secondary works in the field, published memoirs, or published editions of the letters and diaries of leading American figures of the period. None of these sources were unknown to historians of the time, and the author has brought no new information to light. What the author does do if offer the layman an interpretation of such information, but the interpretations and information are not necessarily portrayed in an unbiased light, and this especially plays into his identity, and how he believes in the narrative of the eternal "white supremacist" scourge, which sees him constantly saying false, and biased things which detract heavily from the premise that the dropping of the atomic bomb wasn't good, nor was it necessary.

To elaborate on such instances of bias, we can look no further than on page eight, which the author stipulates, "In Europe, the enemy was identified as Hitler and the Nazis, not the German people . In the Pacific, on the other hand , American anger was aimed at an entire people...the Japanese were condemned as demons, a monkey race, savages, and beasts"[8, 1]. The author here is trying to portray this through a racialized lens, that isn't true based on the historical facts left out. Based on this quote from Winston Churchill, "You must understand that this war is not against Hitler or National Socialism, but against the strength of the German People, which is to be smashed once and for all, whether it is in the hands of Hitler or a Jesuit priest." we can tell that leaders of the allied forces saw this as a war against the German people, and their spirit, therefore viewing the war against Japan as the 'sole' crusade against a people during WWII is foolish. Along with that, the author implies that only the Japanese were portrayed in such an unscrupulous manner, but looking at propaganda from the time we know that is false. From images like these:
https://images.fineartamerica.com/ima...
https://c8.alamy.com/comp/DK18NT/ww2-...
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/RSEAAO...
All of which the author leaves out, to further push his racialist narratives.

Later he claims that Italians and Germans weren't interned in America, and only Japanese were, for racial hatred reasons, this is of course, also false. Germans and Italians were also interned, on a lesser scale than the Japanese were, but saying it didn't happen is a lie, and Takaki peddled such to the masses, for us to believe his racial narratives.

Overall, I can say that while some good and interesting history is brought up in this book surrounding the decision, the author's personal bias heavily detract from any good that can be found in here, and with that I give this a 1.5/5.

[Tom Darrow · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very well-researched and concise coverage of the decision-making process that went into using the atomic bomb. The author spends the first section going through in a more chronological style from the inception of the bomb through its use. In the later chapters, he takes a topical approach on reasons why the bomb was used. He debunks the idea that using the bomb would have saved hundreds of thousands of American's lives and that the Japanese were not willing to surrender. Instead, he focuses on how it was used to scare the Soviets and because of racist feelings. He also spends a chapter discussing Truman's personality... how he felt insecure as a new president and wanted to show his power by making a tough decision and sticking to it.

The makes use of a great number of insider sources, like the scientists, politicians and generals who were all involved in the decision making process.

In the end, he doesn't break any new ground, but he does do a good job at making an easy to read summary.

[Karel Baloun · Rating 5 out of 5]

Takaki (in 1995, using recently declassified war documents) persuasively proves that dropping the atomic bomb was not a military necessity, contrary to what American kids are taught in history class. Truman doesn’t come out looking good, exposed by his 1979 discovered “Potsdam diary”.

General MacArthur was not consulted and Eisenhower was firmly against the use. 85% of the 150 lead scientists on the Manhattan project did not want the bomb to be used the way it was (p134) and Einstein felt great regret for his 1939 letter. Truman was a historically, weak man trying to hide his insecurities, and it would’ve taken a powerful no to his military research establishment to stop the deployment of the bomb, especially since the $2 billion spent with otherwise been subjected to congressional scrutiny.

Byrnes and Truman were looking primarily to stop Russian expansion, and the tremendous racism detailed in the long 5th chapter made genocide possible. Californians (and the West) were so disgustingly racist against asians and natives. And due to effective espionage, Soviet Russia ended up less than 4 years behind in the nuclear arms race, and South Korea could have fallen and the Kim autocracy could have subjugated the entire peninsula.

The horrible internment (and economic destruction) of 80,000 American citizens of Japanese descent is attributed to General DeWitt and Earl Warren, who embodied the anti-asian racial hysteria, and anti-immigrant self-serving theft of agricultural infrastructure by white farmers.

Two completely out of scope yet relevant regrets are how much good will the US squandered in Vietnam and how the militarist, nationalist colonialist extremists took over Japan from 1895 to 1945. Yet supremely relevant for today’s politics is the pernicious echo of anti-immigrant agitation, while most American have forgotten the special protections of freedom our constitution guarantees. The 4 freedoms for which Roosevelt said WW2 was fought, and the bomb dropped: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. (p11, 147)

Truman is typically ranked among the top 15, the top quartile, of American presidents, including his leadership during the Korean War and the integration of the American Armed Forces. He was a horrible racist, as quoted in a private letter to his wife in 1911: “ I think one man is as good as another so long as he’s honest and decent, and not a nigger or a chinaman. Uncle Will [Young, the confederate veteran] says the Lord made a white man of dust, a nigger from mud, and then threw up what was left, and it came down a chinaman. He does hate Chinese and Japs. So do I. It is a race prejudice, I guess, but I’m strongly of the opinion that Negroes ought to be in Africa, yellow men in Asia, white men in Europe and America.” (p94)

This short book is rich in clean and useful endnotes, truly professionally crafted and polished with deep personal interest in the material. This can be considered the author’s magnum opus, a definitive essay on a forever important topic.

[Doug Dillon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well worth the reading. Might change your mind about the reasons we dropped the bomb.

[Lou Maresca · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book, one of so many about WWII and Hiroshima, was worth the read. Though I felt I knew a fair amount about the topic, I learned quite a bit from Takaki's book. There are times when you think that he is presenting a particular point of view, then see that he has presented many sides of the long and complex process of what went into the fateful decision.
It was very interesting to see who in the Administration and in the Manhattan project was for and who was against the bombing. Takaki focuses a good amount on President Harry Truman, as he should, and much of this was revelatory. My opinion of this president has shifted a bit after reading the book.
The book is but 150 pages in length, in the paperback that I read, so some of the topics could be delved into in more length. Overall, this is a good read, well worth the time. I cannot leave out the fact that he has done a very good job of describing what "total war" meant, and means now; this was hard to read, but important and significant.

[Ted · Rating 4 out of 5]

An insightful read to understanding why the atomic bombs were dropped on Japan. It is interesting to note that America's military leaders - Marshall, Eisenhower, MacArthur, Spaatz, Leahy and the Secretary of War, Stimson, all either had reservations about using these bombs or argued that dropping these bombs were unnecessary, Japan was a defeated nation. MacArthur had even proposed a delay in invading Japan since he felt surrender was inevitable. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral William Leahy, expressed it best when he said "My own feeling is that in being the first to use it, we had adopted an ethical standard common to barbarians of the Dark Ages. I was not taught to make war in that fashion, and wars cannot be won by destroying women and children." The atomic bomb, Leahy stated with moral conviction, was a terrible instrument of "uncivilized warfare" - a "modern type of barbarism not worthy of Christian man."

[Swiftfire · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book for my Modern US History class. I'm not exactly usually a fan of non-fiction, but I found this book to be a very interesting read. The author had many great sources and helpful quotes which he used to explain the background behind the bombing of Hiroshima. Not a book I would normally read in my free time, but I'm definitely glad I did.

[B · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a concise and well-researched book. It ought to change all readers’ opinions on why one of the most important events in human history happened.

[Debra · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are interested in a balanced view of why the nuclear bombs were dropped on Japan in WWII, read this book. It was thoroughly researched and has a many pages referencing exactly where the information was obtained.

[Christina Gagliano · Rating 3 out of 5]

A concise and insightful but not well-organized look, based on primary documents, at why America dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, with a quick mention of Nagasaki, which should have been detailed further.

[Jared · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.8/5

[Jay Sellmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Takaki does an amazing job challenging the conventional thinking around why America dropped the atomic bomb.

[Adrian Peeris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Presents the reasons why the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima in the context of Cold War rivalry. It also personalises the decision in the light of President Truman's beliefs and upbringing.

[Maxwell Schneider · Rating 4 out of 5]

really like the way he combines character analysis of truman with the political conditions around dropping the bomb. Read it for a class, wrote a paper on it, hugely recommend

[Carissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3.5 stars*

[Kelsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Michael Walzer's review of this book says it all. Ronald Takaki has written a "lively, complex, multi-dimensional, and wonderfully undogmatic and inconclusive account of the American decision to use the atomic bomb."

Rather than attempting to justify or criticize the decision to drop the bombs, Takaki carefully pieces together the various events and attitudes that may have contributed to the ultimate decision to use the bombs. Even as someone who typically does not read many history books, I genuinely enjoyed learning about the complexity of this critical decision.

[Krissy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very educational.

[Brendan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Becasue they're JUST MEAN !

[Emily Taylor]

Very interesting

[Pepper · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an excellent book. Full of primary source references and well written. I'm not much on non fiction but well worth the time.

[Bill V · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't get much out of the book. Much of what was stated I already knew.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read it years ago, still a favorite. Interesting account of US/Japanese relationship and development of nuclear weapons.