Blown to Hell: America's Deadly Betrayal of the Marshall Islanders

by Walter Pincus

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Walter Pincus exposes the darkest secret in American nuclear history--sixty-seven nuclear tests in the South Pacific's Marshall Islands that decimated a people and their land.

The most important place in American nuclear history are the Marshall Islands--an idyllic Pacific paradise that served as the staging ground for over sixty US nuclear tests. It was here, from 1946 to 1958, that America perfected the weapon that preserved the peace of the post-war years. It was here--with the 1954 Castle Bravo test over Bikini Atoll--that America executed its largest nuclear detonation, a thousand times more powerful than Hiroshima. And it was here that a native people became unwilling test subjects in the first large scale study of nuclear radiation fallout when the ashes rained down on powerless villagers, contaminating the land they loved and forever changing a way of life.

In Blown to Hell, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Walter Pincus tells for the first time the tragic story of the Marshallese people caught in the crosshairs of American nuclear testing. From John Anjain, a local magistrate of Rongelap Atoll who loses more than most; to the radiation-exposed crew of the Japanese fishing boat the Lucky Dragon; to Dr. Robert Conard, a Navy physician who realized the dangers facing the islanders and attempted to help them; to the Washington power brokers trying to keep the unthinkable fallout from public view . . . Blown to Hell tells the human story of America's nuclear testing program.

Displaced from the only homes they had known, the native tribes that inhabited the serene Pacific atolls for millennia before they became ground zero for America's first thermonuclear detonations returned to homes despoiled by radiation--if they were lucky enough to return at all. Others were ripped from their ancestral lands and shuttled to new islands with little regard for how the new environment supported their way of life and little acknowledgement of all they left behind. But not even the disruptive relocations allowed the islanders to escape the fallout.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Science, Politics, American History, War, Military Fiction

416 pages, Hardcover

Published November 2, 2021

Reviews

[Audrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

After World War II, the U.S. continued testing atomic weapons in Nevada and began looking for an out-of-the-way location, ultimately choosing the Marshall Islands. I knew nothing about this testing (beyond Nevada), so it was interesting to learn about.



The beginning of the book details the setting up of testing in the Marshall Islands and the first series of tests. There are meticulous details of the tests, with numbers and names of ships, animals, and isotopes. The nuclear physics was a little over my head.

In 1954, the biggest nuclear bomb ever was detonated. It was much bigger than expected and caused an international incident. It was the first time nuclear fallout became a serious problem, and the Marshallese became unwilling guinea pigs. This is the main focus of the book; the remaining nuclear tests are not mentioned.



I was surprised the radiation exposure didn’t cause more deaths or medical problems. The real destruction was to the Marshallese way of life: several of the atolls remain uninhabitable today. The U.S. compensated these islanders with monthly drops of processed food and increasing amounts of money. The people lost their self-sufficiency, became sedentary, and a diabetes epidemic caused more problems than radiation ever did.

Clearly written by a journalist, as evidenced by the careful attention to detail. Mr. Pincur remains professionally disinterested throughout; his only clear opinion is disapproval of the treatment of the Marshallese.

The writing is not super academic but not super casual, either, and requires close attention. I started with the audiobook but wasn’t absorbing enough information, so I switched to the hard copy. Unfortunately, this exposed me to the author’s complete abandonment of the rules of punctuation. (Who, puts commas between a subject and its verb? This guy, does.)

*Reader’s Choice Nominee Spring 2023*

Language: Clean
Sexual Content: None
Violence/Gore: Nuclear bomb testing
Harm to Animals: Goats, pigs, rats, and other animals exposed to nuclear bombs and radiation
Harm to Children: Infant exposed to fallout dies at age 20. Other children experience radiation sickness and consequent thyroid problems.
Other (Triggers): Cancer; government bureaucracy causes misinformation and red tape; death of culture

[Dan McCarthy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A deep discussion of the US nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands, the damage caused by the fallout, and the American attempts to hide what had happened.

This book took me a while since I had to step away at times. It goes into detail about the damage done to the people of the atolls near the tests as well as the environmental impacts caused. Pincus at a number of times compares the damage caused on relatively small islands to what may be caused if a nuclear bomb is ever targeted at a more populated area.

With nukes again in the news, it is frightening to look back at the frightening and lasting damage these devices can cause.

[Jim Richardson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The description of the thermonuclear blast on pages 114 - 136 is something I have never read about before. It is sobering to think about particularly when geographically translated to any major US or European city. The rest of the book is interesting, but not in the same way.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very detailed history of the development of the atom bomb, its use in WWII, and further testing in the south Pacific after the war that contaminated the homelands of the Marshall Islanders. For detailed history I would give this book 5 stars, but my interest was only in the effect on the Islanders, so I found it a little too in-depth and dry, so dropped my rating to 4 stars. Still, well-written and very thorough.

[Justin Goldman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is meticulously researched and a well-written, but staggering account of the atomic bomb testing carried out in the Marshall Islands from 1946 to 1958. The Marshall Islands consists of 29 atolls across a sea area of approximately 700,000 nautical square miles. The U.S. conducted 23 of these tests at Bikini Atoll, and 44 near Enewetak Atoll, but fallout spread throughout the Marshall Islands. The largest nuclear detonation ever conducted by the U.S., Castle Bravo, was done at Bikini Atoll on March 1, 1954 and it was over 1,000 more times powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. The Marshallese living on Rongelap and Utirik atolls east of Bikini were exposed to radioactive ash and contaminated drinking water as a result of the test, who suffered from low white blood cell counts, thyroid tumors, and numerous cancers. The Marshallese have long called on the U.S. to resolve the "unfinished business" of its nuclear testing legacy and Mr. Pincus highlights the failed attempts from the U.S. Government to decontaminate their islands. With the Compact of Free Association (COFA) between the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the U.S. set to expire in 2023, the future is far from certain with a slow start to renegotiating the COFA and the long shadow of U.S. failures to address the legacy of the nuclear testing remaining at the forefront.

[K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Content warnings: nuclear testing, war, death, explosions, animal death, medical procedures, medical testing/experimentation on an Indigenous population, cancer, surgical procedures

Good LORD. I picked this up last year because I noticed that it's about nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands and I figured it would be a good pick for my Read Around the World challenge. And it definitely was, but at the same time, it filled me with ABSOLUTE RAGE. Partly because of the way that the Marshallese people were treated not just at the time of the nuclear testing in the 1940s-1950s, but in the literal decades afterwards was absolutely horrifying, but also because the scientists designing these bombs basically had no idea what the fuck they were doing. "Oh yeah, this one should be like 2 megatons worth of explosion OH SHIT it was 20 megatons? Daaaaaamn! Oh well, now we know!" Like............you're destroying entire islands, creating toxic material that will survive for thousands of years, and you're just...guessing?!?! JFC.

Anyway. This was extremely well written. It was compelling and horrifying and it's clear that Pincus spent decades working on the topic and with the participants. I can't say that I loved it because it filled me with so much rage. But it was definitely a very worthwhile read and I'm glad I gave it a chance.

[Lady · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was really good and very informative about America's first nuclear bomb testing in the Marshal Islands. You could tell this book was very well researched and contains plenty of shocking facts. It looks at how they didn't fully understand the power and how wide an area the bombs were going to affect nor fully understand the impacts of the nuclear fall out or even plan for the cost of the actual clean up. It compares the price of this clean up to the one at chenobyl disaster.
I listened to the audiobook and could see why the publishers picked the narrator as he had a very military air to his voice. However, this did mean it was slightly dry and to the point. This lead to me struggling a little to warm to him. This was the only reason it lost a star. The facts and the way this book was written was just amazing. I really did feel like I had learnt a lot and now have a far better understanding of the use and affects of nuclear warfare. I am so glad I found this book as I love learning about controversial subjects especially history and military history from Different and this book was perfect for this. I really do recommend this book for that reason.
Many thanks to the author and publishers for producing this spectacular and shocking military history book.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting account of nuclear tests on the Marshall Islands prove that the U.S.A. had no idea of what they were unleashing when they exploded the hydrogen bomb on the Bikini Atoll in the Marshal Islands. Many of the Marshall Islanders suffered from radioactive fallout. But the United States failures were covered up for years as the government failed to disclose the full extent of the damage caused by further testing. It was only after 20 years that the Marshallese began to suffer full ramifications of living on the contaminated islands. Congress was loath to pay for the damages until the people began to get other countries involved. It is a shame that the once peaceful agrarian peoples are now dependent on canned food supplies that have changed their healthy lifestyle and have caused greater incidence of diabetes and arteriosclerosis. The Marshallese feel that they have been used as guinea pigs to study the long-term effects of radiation but I believe that the USA had no idea of the power of what they unleashed.

[Mariah · Rating 5 out of 5]

History is an interesting subject to read about because there is so much that can be hidden and overlooked because of whatever reason that the people writing down the history decided upon. Walter Pincus lays out just what happened during America's nuclear tests and all the people that is was decided were acceptable to be harmed or even lost.

Even more than just the number and scope of the nuclear tests that were undertaken that was surprising - it was the lack of knowledge of the aftereffects of the tests, whether its was the illnesses, the effect on plant and animal life or even just how far it could potentially spread that was shocking to read.

The number of people that were hurt by the United States government during this period of time is heart-breaking and the lengths that the government went to hide or discredit what happened is sickening.

I received this audiobook free from NetGalley and Tantor Audio to review and this is my honest review.

Five out of five stars.

[Tone Undvall · Rating 4 out of 5]

#readingaroundtheworld

I would never have found, or picked up this book if it were not for my reading around the world challange and not finding anything else from Marshall Islands. I was not looking forward to it, and procrastinated starting it for quite some time before I finally did. And while it was not the fastest or easiest read, it was so interesting!
Me not being from that part of the world, I had no idea about this part of history. To be honest, I barely knew that Marshall Island existed.
You can tell that this book is soooo well researched. And the fact that I just finished reading Chernobyl Prayer a few weeks prior to this book made it all the more fascinating, comparing how Soviet and USA handled the separate tragedies.

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to author Walter Pincus for this FREE Kindle copy of Blown to Hell.

Overall, lots of interesting information and tidbits into the workings of the human animal. Quite a collection of material presented here. Generally, it is all well written from a point in time in the past to the present. I found that there was a bit of jumping around in time within and into the next chapter, so I feel the writing could have used some smoothing out. There was also a fair amount of repeating pieces of information - could be as reinforcement? I also thought there were a bit too many editing issues for a finished piece of work, for $18. I do, however, think the cover is nicely done.

[Ann Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Those book is well written and I would recomend it though it did make me sad. The nuclear testing that America did was done at a time when atomic energy (and other things- meteorology) was not as well understood. Of course we (the USA)have come to understand what we did but have trouble taking responsibility for the actions in the Marshall Islands. I felt angry that they were a protectorate of the USA and relied on us to take care of them, instead it seems we used them and their land.

[Robin C. Lawson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Blown to Hell

Very well written and very moving. I am shocked as to how irresponsible our government was with nuclear testing. There is a very sad parallel between what the government did to the people of the Marshall Islands and what the government did to Native Americans. I have learned much from this book and commend the author on this. Maybe, some day, we will learn from our past and actions

[Shaunti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such an interesting read! (I am just slow reading nonfiction books.) It really goes into the early days of nuclear testing (1940s-1950s), and what it can do to people and environments involved. The Marshellese way of life has been forever changed. It also makes you realize how destructive nuclear weapons are, and what fall out can do. It was very telling to me how the government handles things like this as well.

[Mitzi Delaney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I generally prefer fiction books as it is my escape. I read this as it was a nominee for a reader’s choice award at my library. I learned so much about the nuclear tests performed by the US after WWII. I was made aware of the destruction they caused to the Marshall Islands and made me more aware of the horrible consequences if nuclear war was to come in the future.

[Emily Lefebvre · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone who works with Marshallese youth in the states, this was an exceptionally well written display of the atrocities committed by the US government. I was impressed by the ability of the author to make such technical presentation of facts interesting. Listened to the audiobook and was thoroughly captivated the entire time.

[Stewart · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting history of a yet another fraught relationship (which is an understatement) between the US government and a native people. This was a great history and a good reminder about how there are no winners in a nuclear war.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. what a book. Shame on the US Gov't.
This was amazing to learn about.
I knew about the western downwinders. The US Gov't and military destroyed so much for this. Was it necessary? I hope not.

Walter Pincus is a long-term journalist.

[Nina · Rating 5 out of 5]

very thorough and topical, given the recent oppenheimer craze. i'm absolutely appalled to keep finding out just how much death and destruction was justified by the US in the name of "stopping communism," their behavior towards the japanese, complete disregard for native islanders, etc.

[Jonathon Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quite Revealing

The technical details of what actually happened with our nuclear testing really stand out in this book, I learned so much and developed an even deeper revulsion towards nuclear weapons.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting and informative read

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very terrifying look into how the United States almost decimated the world population through a misconception about nuclear weapons and the impact on the planet.

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned so much from this book.

[Christine Svetkovich]

An excellent account of a horrible reality.

[Ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good history of what the military did to achieve a high Megaton thermonuclear bomb on the Marshall Islands that exist to date.

[Ashley Reel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. I thought I already knew how tragic this story would be … but it’s much worse. This book is simply amazing. Researched so well.

[Lawana Sisam · Rating 5 out of 5]

It seems that we really can't be trusted! I learned a lot of things about nuclear testing! So sad! It is horrible our government can't be trusted!

[wally walter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative and well written

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thorough and devastating. An important read.

[Simone · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is scarily relevant today! The world leaders should read it.