A detailed historical analysis of the United States’ decision to deploy atomic weapons against Japan in August 1945. Feis examines the strategic, political, and military factors that led to this unprecedented action, exploring alternatives such as a conventional invasion, coercion through diplomatic inducement, and the shock of the atomic bomb itself.
A detailed narrative of the political, military, and scientific decision-making that led to the dropping of the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Drawing on hundreds of interviews and thousands of documents, including previously unpublished material, Kurzman reconstructs the key moments and personalities behind the Manhattan Project and the U.S. leadership’s debate over using the bomb.