The Postman of Nagasaki

by Peter Townsend

9 août 1945 à 11 h 02. Sumiteru Taniguchi, 16 ans, venait de commencer sa tournée de poste lorsque les Américains ont largué la bombe atomique sur Nagasaki. Quelques minutes plus tard, il était affreusement blessé et la vallée, autrefois agréable, s’était transformée en un véritable enfer. Voici l’histoire émouvante du combat de Sumiteru pour surmonter ses terribles blessures et sa défiguration, pour vaincre ses doutes et ses craintes quant à l’avenir et pour mener une vie normale. Le récit simple et plein de compassion de Peter Townsend exprime, au travers des souffrances individuelles, l’horreur de la guerre nucléaire. Il révèle surtout le courage indomptable d’un homme appartenant au seul groupe de personnes qui a subi une attaque à la bombe atomique et qui, aujourd’hui, revendique activement un monde en paix. Ce récit, inspiré de longues recherches et d’interviews effectuées par Peter Townsend, est né d’une amitié entre deux survivants de la Deuxième Guerre mondiale qui ont, à des moments différents et dans des circonstances différentes, survécu aux traumatismes physiques et moraux que celle-ci leur a infligés.

Genres: Japan, History, Nonfiction, 20th Century

1 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

There is more than one author with this name

Group Captain Peter Wooldridge Townsend, CVO, DSO, DFC and Bar, RAF was Equerry to King George VI 1944–1952 and held the same position for Queen Elizabeth II 1952–1953. Townsend is best known for his ill-fated romance with Princess Margaret. Despite his distinguished career, as a divorced man there was no chance of marriage with the princess and their relationship caused enormous controversy in the mid 1950s.

Peter Townsend spent much of his later years writing non-fiction books. His books include "Earth My Friend" (about driving/boating around the world alone in the mid 1950s), "Duel of Eagles," (about the Battle of Britain), "The Odds Against Us" (also known as "Duel in the Dark") (about fighting Luftwaffe night bombers in 1940-1941), "The Last Emperor" (A biography of King George VI), The Girl in the White Ship (about a young refugee from Vietnam in the late 1970s who was the sole survivor of her ship of refugees), The Postman of Nagasaki (about the atomic bombing of Nagasaki), and Time and Chance, (an autobiography). He also wrote many short articles and contributed to other books. [wikipedia]

Reviews

[Keen Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh look at that!...what an interesting shot of the book cover?...

“One-hundred million will die together!”

Is just one of the idiotic slogans hailed by the upper echelons of the Japanese military and political realms during WWII. As if it were something to aspire to rather than to avoid at all costs.

“The public was told that every man, was to be prepared to die in a last stand on the mainland. In the POW camps throughout the country, allied prisoners were paraded before the commandant, who informed them that invasion was imminent. As soon as the enemy set foot on Japanese soil, all POWs would be put death. They were even told how: by machine guns, flame-throwers or by being sealed into caves which would then be blown in by explosives.”

The Japanese weren't really into doing the whole buddhist, humanity compassion thing during the Second World War. This is a darkly intriguing, and at times patchy account of one man's horrendous experience during the dropping of the second atomic bomb on Nagasaki.

[Bart Vanvaerenbergh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Een boek van belang. Zeker voor iedereen die meer wil weten over de atoombom op Nagasaki.
Een deel van het (waargebeurde) verhaal wordt verteld vanuit het perspectief van Sumiteru, overlevende van de atoombom.
Er wordt uitgebreid ingegaan op de geschiedkundige feiten.
De Japanners (lees : de militairen) die al lang wisten dat ze de oorlog niet meer konden winnen, maar toch doorgingen, president Truman die kostte wat het kost de twee atoombommen zou gooien (ze hadden dan ook genoeg gekost).
Dat de bom op Nagasaki twee keer "sterker" was dan die op Hiroshima wist ik niet.
Als ik over een paar dagen in Nagasaki ben zal ik, zoals de Japanners doen, diep buigen voor alle mensen die tijdens deze aanval gestorven zijn (zowel Japanners als Amerikaanse krijgsgevangenen !) en nog dieper buigen voor de overlevenden, die ondanks hun zware verwondingen toch de moed vonden om door te gaan met leven en zich in te zetten tegen atoomwapens.
Ik zal ook een kort "gebed" tot de wereld richten voor vrede met de woorden uit dit boek : "Laat de tweede atoombom ook meteen de laatste zijn".

[Beatrice Rogers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Following Sumiteru on his life before, during, and after the atomic bomb was really interesting and impactful. Bought this book at the atomic bomb museum in Nagasaki and definitely a good ‘souvenir’ choice.

[Jacqueline Hutchins · Rating 5 out of 5]

A heartbreaking but necessary story. Feels even more powerful reading about the atomic bombs while living in japan 😞

[K VALIS · Rating 4 out of 5]

Peter Townsend was a British fighter pilot in the Second World War, before work as an air attache and journalist around Europe led him, in 1978, to become a writer.
This book, originally published in 1984, was based on extensive research and interviews Townsend conducted with survivors of the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki on the 9th of August, 1945. In it, he carefully plots the course of events, political and military, that led to that terrible day. His sober account of how a few powerful men on both sides of the Pacific made decisions that would eventually condemn countless thousands of innocent civilians - men, women and children - to death or lives of unspeakable suffering, is perfectly balanced with the incredibly moving personal stories of individual survivors.
Emperor Hirohito and many of his civilian ministers had been opposed to the war in the first place and were anxious to find diplomatic means to end it, but the top eschalon of the powerful Japanese military was full of fanatics for whom defeat was unthinkable as the ultimate humiliation. They were followers of Bushido, the old samurai warrior code and, in their view, it was the patriotic duty of the entire Japanese nation to die fighting, rather than surrender. In March of 1945, after the destruction of the Japanese navy and air force, 130,000 people were killed in a single night when over three hundred American B29 bombers dropped napalm on Tokyo. The Emperor supported attempts to arrange a conditional surrender via Russia - the condition being the survival of the Imperial system, the historic heart of Japan.
After the death of president Roosevelt in April, many advisers, military and civilian, of the new president, Truman were advising him to ask for a Japanese surrender of exactly this kind - one that assured the survival of the Imperial system. Former Vice-President Truman first agreed to this, then changed his mind and insisted on demanding unconditional surrender, thereby ensuring the demand would be rejected. Truman had by then been briefed about the power of The Bomb. Many advisers, including senior military figures and scientists working on the Manhattan Project, had urged that the bomb should first be used off the coast of Japan, where the Japanese would be able to see its power without large-scale loss of life.
Truman, a Kansas City haberdasher who went into politics after his business went bankrupt, was suddenly the most powerful man in the world, and he told his air-force to bomb military targets in Japan without prior warning, despite Admiral Leahy telling him he would be using an inhuman weapon on a defeated people.
On 6th August, an atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. On 8th August, Russia declared war on Japan and invaded Manchuria.
Prime Minister Suzuki's immediate reaction was 'let us end the war', and the Emperor agreed to accept any terms. The Japanese inner cabinet had an emergency meeting at 11am on the 9th of August to arrange the announcement of the surrender, but by that time the B29 bomber was already on it's way to Nagasaki.
I would defy anyone to be unmoved by the story of Sumiteru Taniguchi, the postman of the title, who was a sixteen year-old boy when he was horrifically maimed by the bomb.
This is a brilliant book about the importance of humanity and the horror of war - I urge you to read it.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was finally able to finish this book after getting new glasses :)
I think this book is very important to understand the largest consequences of war and its long lasting effects . The a- bomb was a crime against humanity by today’s standard . Highly recommend this book for historical learning .

[John Spencer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Townsend's account of the dropping of the second atomic bomb is framed as a biography of a young survivor. This humanises, personalises, the story without loosing sight of the bigger picture. On occasion he uses anecdotes to illustrate his account such as the reaction of the survivor's children the first time they have an understanding of their fathers disfigurement when he's on beach surrounded by 'normal' bodies. This is an effective technique, illustrating the terrible long term impact of the bombs.
Townsend isn't attempting to be a dispassionate historian. While acknowledging that the alternatives to dropping the bomb could have been dreadful he blames the Japanese military for their willingness to sacrifice the civilian population, all of it, rather that lose face. Similarly he has no time for Truman who ignored the concerns of scientists and reservations of some of his senior military figures such as Eisenhower. Truman was unwilling to delay for even a matter of days to assess the impact of he Soviet declaration of war on Japan or the destruction of Hiroshima in his haste to push the button. Roosevelt or Churchill, men of greater stature and experience, might have acted differently.
The writing isn't especially fluid but there is anger, passion and understanding here that makes this short book a valuable account of the impact of the dropping of the bombs in August 1945.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book while in Nagasaki and deeply valued the awareness and historical knowledge it gave me. It is a very different style to what I would normally read but I recommend this book to everyone because it was incredibly eye opening. Sometimes it's difficult for people to truly connect to historical events so a personal story like this really sheds light on the fact that these were innocent people with their own desires and passions and feelings and lives that were affected.

[Liz Birchall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unbelievable, I can't believe anyone survived the bomb. Amazing how he kept going and survived.

[瑛子 前 · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m sorry to say that it is very poorly written.
映画の題材になった原作。
SumiteruとEikoとの馴れ初めのところが、素敵でした。
No more Hiroshima. No more Nagasaki. No more hibakushya. No more war.

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favourite books