Fire in the Sky: The Story of the Atomic Bomb
- ISBN-10
- 1449092659
- ISBN-13
- 9781449092658
- Series
- Fire in the Sky
- Category
- Atomic bomb
- Pages
- 138
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2010-03
- Publisher
- AuthorHouse
- Author
- Jeffrey K. Smith
Description
In the summer of 1945, the world was introduced to the horrific consequences of nuclear warfare. On the sixth day of August, an American B-29 bomber dropped a revolutionary new weapon, the atomic bomb, over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The catastrophic detonation instantly killed over 100,000 residents of the city, with thousands more dying from explosion-related injuries in the months and years to follow. Three days later, a second nuclear weapon was released over the skies of Nagasaki, killing over 40,000 Japanese citizens, most of whom were civilians. Six days after the second nuclear attack, the Empire of Japan surrendered, and World War II was ended. Jubilation among the Allied countries was tempered by a profound sense of relief; nearly four years of bloody war had finally come to an end. Some 406,000 Americans died during World War II, while another 671,000 were wounded. By the end of the war, an astonishing one out of every one hundred thirty six Americans had been killed or wounded in the fighting. American military personnel, along with their spouses, children, parents, and friends, were eager to see the bloody conflict come to and end, by any means possible. Consequently, President Harry Truman's decision to utilize the atomic bomb to bring Japan to its knees was wildly popular in the weeks and months that followed the Japanese surrender. In the six plus decades since Hiroshima and Nagasaki, however, many have questioned both the necessity and morality of America's deployment of the bomb. Significantly influenced by revisionist history, passionate debate has focused on the justification for nuclear warfare to subdue an enemy already nearing defeat. Like so many other momentous events, the reader must balance the reality of the world in 1945 against the seemingly clearer prism of revisionist history. Fire in the Sky: The Story of the Atomic Bomb chronicles the development and use of the first atomic bombs. This is a remarkable story about the lives and times of the brilliant scientists, seasoned military officers, and determined government leaders, who reshaped history, and irrevocably changed the dynamics of warfare.
Get the book
Other editions
-
- 2022-01-06
- 352 pages
- Paperback
- Hodder Paperbacks
-
- 2020-08-04
- 288 pages
- Paperback
- Scribner
-
- 2019-06-04
- 288 pages
- Ebook
- Simon and Schuster
-
- 2019-06-04
- 288 pages
- Paperback
- Scribner
Similar books
-
By the Bomb's Early Light: American Thought and Culture at the Dawn of the Atomic Age
By Paul S. BoyerA history of the cultural side-effects of the atomic age examines cartoons, jingles, radio shows, slang, opinion polls, novels, and poetry of the 1940s to demonstrate how deeply the bomb penetrated American life and thought
-
Enola Gay and the Court of History
By Robert P. NewmanGalbraith's account of his exploits , particularly the interviews he , Ball , and Nitze conducted with Albert Speer , the German economic czar , is lyrical.3 Inevitably the civilian investigators gave less credit for victory to the ...
-
Assault in Norway
By Thomas GallagherAssault in Norway
-
Assault in Norway: The True Story of the Telemark Raid
By Thomas GallagherAssault in Norway: The True Story of the Telemark Raid
-
Spies in the Congo: The Race for the Ore That Built the Atomic Bomb
By Susan Williams15 He told Major Crocker, the British SIS official working on IDB, of his concerns and encouraged him to expedite his activities. 'I have advised VULCAN,' he reported to Schmidt, 'of the uncertainty of my position here at the moment, ...
-
Children of Usher: Growing Up in Los Alamos
By Glenn FishbineAt last the great night of homecoming arrived. We positioned ourselves on a little hill overlooking one end of the playing field. A rival group led by a mad archer named Bruce was about 200 yards away. They were using a few feet of ...
-
Impact of the Cold War on American Popular Culture
By Steve Goodson, Elaine McClarnand MacKinnon, Elaine McClarnandImpact of the Cold War on American Popular Culture
-
City of Fire: Los Alamos and the Birth of the Atomic Age, 1943-1945
By James W. KunetkaWritten in a compelling and riveting style, this is the clearest, most accurate, and most informed account to date of a major scientific achievement that has affected all our lives.
-
The Atom Bomb and the Future of Man
By Karl JaspersThe Atom Bomb and the Future of Man
-
Judgment at the Smithsonian
By Philip NobileNow published in its entirety, here is the Smithsonian's original Enola Gay document, with an introduction that covers the controversy and explains the issues at stake in remembering Hiroshima and Nagasaki 50 years later.