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Nagasaki: La bomba olvidada
Veinte años más tarde, Frank Chinnock viajó a Nagasaki para averiguar qué fue exactamente lo qué les sucedió a sus habitantes cuando la bomba atómica estalló sobre sus cabezas. Sus pesquisas constituyeron una experiencia absorbente, y el libro que ha resultado de ellas ofrece al mundo un relato magistral, emotivo, crudo, implacable, de aquel cataclísmico acontecimiento.
- GenresWorld War IIHistory
332 pages, Library Binding
First published January 1, 1969
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 10, 2020
4 Stars A very readable history of the second atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki. Alternates between the B-29 crews and the people on the ground before and after the explosion. I read Hiroshima so long ago I can’t remember much but this book felt less like a polemic. Very graphic depictions of the bomb effects. Sympathetic to the victims while factual on the decision to use the second weapon. Short review of the Japanese council decision to accept the Potsdam demands. Ends with an account of Nagasaki and all the main characters in 1968, 23 years later. Excellent read. Finished on the 75th anniversary of the bomb.
March 11, 2017
What I find amazing and dumbfounding is that while there are 27,398 readers here who have read John Hersey's book about the dropping of the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, there are only 6 who have read this account of the dropping of the second atomic bomb on Nagasaki. In my view Chinnock's book is a far more interesting and compelling read than Hersey's.
This book is filled with ironies. Nagasaki was not even on the list of the original four possible targets for bombing. On the morning of August 9th, 1945 Kokura was the primary target. When it was found to be obscured by smoke, the plane headed to Nagasaki. That target was found to be obscured by clouds but the crew disobeyed orders and dropped their bomb by radar rather than by sight. You read about a young Japanese boy playing with friends. He dives to the bottom of a river to retrieve his sister's bell. When he surfaces his playmates are dead or dying and the surrounding area is utterly destroyed. Similarly, a young boy is playing hide and seek with his friends. He is "It" and standing in the open while his friends are all low to the ground and hiding under or behind things. They are all a few hundred yards from "ground zero". In a flash the "It" boy turns to ash. All his friends survive the blast, many to die of radiation sickness soon after. Seeing a lone B-29 flying high overhead a group of nuns rush across a field to seek shelter. 15 go in one direction. One goes in another and trips and rolls down a slope. She alone survives.
Even the title of this book is ironic since this book is no longer in print but an electronic copy can be read on openlibrary. org. I encourage you to do so.
This book is filled with ironies. Nagasaki was not even on the list of the original four possible targets for bombing. On the morning of August 9th, 1945 Kokura was the primary target. When it was found to be obscured by smoke, the plane headed to Nagasaki. That target was found to be obscured by clouds but the crew disobeyed orders and dropped their bomb by radar rather than by sight. You read about a young Japanese boy playing with friends. He dives to the bottom of a river to retrieve his sister's bell. When he surfaces his playmates are dead or dying and the surrounding area is utterly destroyed. Similarly, a young boy is playing hide and seek with his friends. He is "It" and standing in the open while his friends are all low to the ground and hiding under or behind things. They are all a few hundred yards from "ground zero". In a flash the "It" boy turns to ash. All his friends survive the blast, many to die of radiation sickness soon after. Seeing a lone B-29 flying high overhead a group of nuns rush across a field to seek shelter. 15 go in one direction. One goes in another and trips and rolls down a slope. She alone survives.
Even the title of this book is ironic since this book is no longer in print but an electronic copy can be read on openlibrary. org. I encourage you to do so.
July 23, 2016
"Un tiempo en el que el mismísimo infiero contagia a este mundo." William Shakespeare, Hamlet.
Frank W. Chinnock escoge tan bien el epígrafe de este libro que lo he considerado como uno de mis favoritos, la cita de Shakespeare describe fielmente lo que sucedió el 6 y 9 de agosto de 1945, y lo que siguió después.
Un libro que explica, a través de testimonios, el trágico hecho en Nagasaki de manera que al finalizar el libro puedes narrar perfectamente bien lo ocurrido los días antes y después de la explosión de la Fat Man (nombre de la bomba atómica lanzada en Nagasaki).
Uno de los puntos que más me gustó del libro es la objetividad, el autor se encarga de mostrar las dos caras de la moneda; es muy descriptivo lo cual permite crear imágenes claras de lo ocurrido; sus explicaciones son fáciles de entender aunque no sepas absolutamente nada de como funciona la energía nuclear.
Espero volver a leer otro libro de este autor, y espero algún día visitar Nagasaki, la ciudad que fue reconstruida hace más de setenta años.
"«Esto es la guerra, la guerra total», pensó. Aquello era lo que realmente significaba la guerra."
December 22, 2014
Very depressing but well organized and complete. So many personal stories from the victims and so graphic. too graphic for me.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews