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Atomic Tragedy: Henry L. Stimson and the Decision to Use the Bomb Against Japan | 
 enlarge | Author: Sean L. Malloy
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Category: Book
List Price: $26.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  1 reviews
Sales Rank: 69749
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 233
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.9
ISBN: 0801446546
Dewey Decimal Number: 940.542521954
EAN: 9780801446542
ASIN: 0801446546
Publication Date: May 2008
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Product Description
Atomic Tragedy offers a unique perspective on one of the most important events of the twentieth century. As secretary of war during World War II, Henry L. Stimson (1867-1950) oversaw the American nuclear weapons program. In a book about how an experienced, principled man faltered when confronted by the tremendous challenge posed by the intersection of war, diplomacy, and technology, Sean L. Malloy examines Stimson's struggle to reconcile his responsibility for "the most terrible weapon ever known in human history" with his long-standing convictions about war and morality. Ultimately, Stimson's story is one of failure; despite his beliefs, Stimson reluctantly acquiesced in the use of the atomic bomb against heavily populated Japanese cities in August 1945. This is the first biography of Stimson to benefit from extensive use of papers relating to the Manhattan Project; Malloy has also uncovered evidence illustrating the origins of Stimson's commitment to eliminating or refining the conduct of war against civilians, information that makes clear the agony of Stimson's dilemma. The ultimate aim of Atomic Tragedy is not only to contribute to a greater historical understanding of the first use of nuclear weapons but also to offer lessons from the decision-making process during the years 1940-1945 that are applicable to the current world environment. As the United States mobilizes scientists and engineers to build new and supposedly more "usable" nuclear weapons and as nations in Asia and the Middle East are replicating the feat of the Manhattan Project physicists at Los Alamos, it is more important than ever that policymakers and analysts recognize the chain of failures surrounding the first use of those weapons at Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
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| Customer Reviews:
Tragedy of Henry Stimson in Handling the First US A-bombs November 28, 2008
This book tells us the very tragedy of a so human scholar from Harvard, Henry Stimson, who happened to serve as the Secretary for War towards the end of Pacific War (WWII), and eventually was forced by the "cheap" president Harry Truman, his surroundings (in particular James Byrnes, Secretary of State) and US military forces to sign the order to drop two A-bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, in Japan where Henry loved and had many scholarly friends.
The US "official" reason for using these two A-bombs still remains to end this bloody war as soon as possible to save the life of so many American young soldiers for their invasion/occupation of Japan, but the "real" reason was to intimidate Josef Stalin of USSR by demonstrating the unprecedented destructive power of these A-bombs upon Japanese cities, in an attempt to block the invasion of USSR into East Europe towards the end of this war.
In other words, the bombs were used mainly to start the "Cold War", instead of hastening the end of WWII (saving American lives). The real force that hastened the end of war, the unconditional surrender of Japan was the "scheduled" invasion by USSR into Manchuria, China, on August 7, which took place between the US drop of two A-bombs (August 6 and 9) on Japanese cities, according to the secret agreement between FDR and Stalin (3 months after the surrender of Nazi-Germany in May 1945).
I believe if the "great" president FDR were still alive around June and August, 1945, FDR would listen carefully to Henry, and decide not to drop A-bombs on any cities. FDR knew very well that the Russian invasion into Manchuria would end immediately the great war. Unfortunately the history was not in favor of both Henry and the perished people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, simply because FDR died suddenly in April, 1945, a month before the surrender of Germany.
All American (in particular young people) should read this book to understand/learn their own history during the last "great" war correctly.
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