“At exactly fifteen minutes past eight in the morning, on August 6, 1945, Japanese time, at the moment when the atomic bomb flashed above Hiroshima, Miss Toshiko Sasaki, a clerk in the personnel department of the East Asia Tin Works, had just sat down at her place in the plant office and was turning her head to speak to the girl at the next desk. ”
So begins a very interesting book by John Hersey about the Hiroshima attack. His account is considered to be one of the accurate and graphic descriptions of the human aftermath from the bomb ever written. Hersey received a Pulitzer Prize for his writing of World War Two.
I have his works in two books, “Reporting World War II parts One and Two” published by Library of America.
Hersey’s work is a must read about Hiroshima.
I have a few other books in the library on the immediate aftermath. “Day One: Before Hiroshima and After” by Peter Wyden. It was praised by John Hersey, “Here, quite simply, is what every literate person on earth should know about the start of the atomic age.”
The following several books, I wrote about last year on August 6th. It is worth a re-read. One can type August 6 into the search bar and find “Give Peace a Chance”. There are also a few pictures when I visited Hiroshima.
I have other books that tie into this subject. There is “Where the Buck Stops” “Personal and private writings of Harry S. Truman”. There is an interesting chapter where Truman is first briefed about “The most terrible weapon ever known in human history, one bomb which could destroy a whole city.“
Also have “The Memorable Words of The Man from Missouri”, Harry S. Truman. he stated, “We have used it (the bomb) in order to shorten the agony of war, to save the lives of thousands and thousands of Americans.”
I have also a few books about atomic bombs after the war. First is “Operation Crossroads: The Official Pictorial Record” printed in 1946; and “Bombs at Bikini”, published in 1947. Both were written by the Joint Task Forces of the Army and Navy Chiefs of Staffs. They are interesting reads, along with remarkable photographs. We kept developing stronger and more powerful atomic bombs. Bikini Atoll was where many of them were detonated.
In the 1950’s and 60’s during the Cold War with Russia, there were thoughts of atomic war. I have two rather unusual books on the subject. The first is “Atomic Bombing. How to Protect Yourself” published in 1950.
This is really a good read on how to survive such attacks. There is a great chapter on “Panic”, where is stated that “One person out of five remains cool and collected in the face of a major disaster.” There is actually good advice on how to handle any crisis, whether atomic or not.
The second book is “How to Survive Atomic Attack” published in 1961. This is more of a supermarket magazine found at check lanes. It too is interesting and has a lot of how to build or buy bomb shelters.
I remember that atomic attack hype. I grew up in Zion, Illinois. They had built an atomic power plant that opened in 1973, just a mile or so from downtown Zion. We had several school drills on what to do and where to go, if there was a radiation leak or if bombed. I have a recent book that explains the whole story of the Zion power plant, “Higher Power: An American Town’s Story of Faith, Hope, and Nuclear Energy” by Casey Bukro, published 2023.
There is quite a history of atomic power after that bombing on August 6, 1945. I will leave with a picture I took of the epicenter from the bombing (the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall, also known as the Atomic Bomb Dome. The bomb was detonated 580 meters above the building.); along with my ticket into the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum.
The time spent in Hiroshima was quite moving. I was not just reading a book or safely googling from afar. I was at the real event, with actual remains and reminders. It did make me want to learn more. That is why I have collected some unusual books for the library.
Thanks for reading.
*Title of first chapter of “Hiroshima” by John Hersey.
Librarytomes 