I remember reading Hiroshima in high school (shortly after 9/11/01). The combination of that book and world events was, in hindsight, the start of a leftward shift in my politics and worldview, and probably the initial budding of my push towards pacifism (a journey that still has a long ways to go, as I’m still ready and willing to “punch a Nazi”).
It is an incredibly arresting and affecting 150ish pages. Some of the descriptions and images still linger in my brain; I’ll have to search my shelves to see if I still have that 20+ year old copy.
I just finished a book on Alaska that centered on a few families and told the story of the rise and fall of the Treadwell gold mine through their life threads. I was struck by how powerful that method is when done well, so I'll add Hiroshima to my TBR as another example!
I bought the 2 books Fallout and Hiroshima at the same time. I had never heard of John Hersey before then. I had read biographies on Oppenheimer, Truman, MacArthur, lemay, but didn’t really know anything about the aftermath history of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It’s not talked about much. The Fallout book was a very good book and gave quite a lot of insight into what MacArthur, Groves and the army was trying to hide. The effects of radiation poisoning, even though they knew this truth from the 2 deaths at Los alamos during the bomb development stage. I’ve not read the book Hiroshima yet but I have been keeping up with the Hiroshima Substack. I highly recommend reading Fallout as a moment in history that should be understood, especially in light of the pathological warmongers who actually believe nuclear war is a survivable option. Curtis lemay (nuclear weapons is just another bomb to be used like any other) thought this way and so does the current Rand institute mindsets. you can hear it in the Ukraine commentaries of Michael mcfaul, roger wicker and Lindsey graham. Countries are destroyed by irrational emotional men during times of heated debates when no one dares question the monster in the room. The time has come for us to begin asking questions and contemplating the unimaginable; a country that had it all, who sacrificed it, in a moment, for 30 pieces of silver
I feel like a fool for b.s.-ing my way through the class in high school when we read Hersey. Thanks for the spur to read it “again.”
I was going to post the same thing. Currently digging through my shelves to see if I still have my scribbled-on copy.
I remember reading Hiroshima in high school (shortly after 9/11/01). The combination of that book and world events was, in hindsight, the start of a leftward shift in my politics and worldview, and probably the initial budding of my push towards pacifism (a journey that still has a long ways to go, as I’m still ready and willing to “punch a Nazi”).
It is an incredibly arresting and affecting 150ish pages. Some of the descriptions and images still linger in my brain; I’ll have to search my shelves to see if I still have that 20+ year old copy.
"arresting and affecting" is a great way to describe it.
I just finished a book on Alaska that centered on a few families and told the story of the rise and fall of the Treadwell gold mine through their life threads. I was struck by how powerful that method is when done well, so I'll add Hiroshima to my TBR as another example!
Sounds interesting! Thanks Renee :)
Thank you for putting both of these important works on my radar.
I bought the 2 books Fallout and Hiroshima at the same time. I had never heard of John Hersey before then. I had read biographies on Oppenheimer, Truman, MacArthur, lemay, but didn’t really know anything about the aftermath history of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It’s not talked about much. The Fallout book was a very good book and gave quite a lot of insight into what MacArthur, Groves and the army was trying to hide. The effects of radiation poisoning, even though they knew this truth from the 2 deaths at Los alamos during the bomb development stage. I’ve not read the book Hiroshima yet but I have been keeping up with the Hiroshima Substack. I highly recommend reading Fallout as a moment in history that should be understood, especially in light of the pathological warmongers who actually believe nuclear war is a survivable option. Curtis lemay (nuclear weapons is just another bomb to be used like any other) thought this way and so does the current Rand institute mindsets. you can hear it in the Ukraine commentaries of Michael mcfaul, roger wicker and Lindsey graham. Countries are destroyed by irrational emotional men during times of heated debates when no one dares question the monster in the room. The time has come for us to begin asking questions and contemplating the unimaginable; a country that had it all, who sacrificed it, in a moment, for 30 pieces of silver