Hiroshima Nagasaki

While extraordinary, I can only give it 3 stars

This only rates a three because it drags, and it's so repetitive, I damned near cried a few times. It's a truly emotionally charged issue, and up front, let me just say it: I was one of those strident mouthy types who, without thought, pointed out that, after someone said, quite harshly, that the US was the only country to have used atomic weapons, we used them on a country, Japan, that was nowhere near the happy, pappy, anime loving people they are now. At the time of the use of atomic weaponry, there was some unspeakable brutality going on: in China, in the camps, in their very ideas on how life should be lived, in their code that it was better to spread death and die, than, well, here, suffice it to say: blah, blah, heinous, blah.
But Ham has made me rethink this with very indepth reporting of what was going on from all angles.
And therein lies the problem.
The humanity is lost.
You want the horror? You want to realize that what happened was wrong and that it happened to people who were just as misguided as any people who happened to follow leaders who led them astray? Read/listen to "Hiroshima Diary."
But skip the eeeeeeendlessssss politics that Ham wallows in. Brilliantly researched, yes. Well-narrated, without a doubt. Boring, holy cow, I'm off to take a nap!

8 of 10 people found this review helpful

Amazingly detailed and balanced account.

Paul Ham did a great job, the research is evident in the details and the story is very well balanced, many different perspectives and facts that go well beyond the surface.

3 of 4 people found this review helpful

What we thought we knew, but didn't.

I've asked numerous friends their belief about what caused the Japanese surrender at the end of WWII, and all answered 'the dropping of the atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki'. Paul Ham provides convincing evidence that the first (and fortunately only) use of atomic weapons in war had almost no influence on the surrender decision taken by the doomed government in Japan. Encircled, and economically strangled by naval blockade, its major cities razed by systematic fire-bombing, Japan chose to surrender to the US and its allies to avoid invasion by the Russians who surged across the Manchurian border only days after the devastation of Hiroshima, but before the significance of that event had even begun to be understood. Ham arrives at this point after providing the detailed political, military and scientific context in which it occurred. He is a superb historian and skilled narrator, who has changed my view of the end of WWII with this marvellous book. I could not recommend it more highly.

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

Excellent research, great book.

If Paul Ham wrote a menu, I’d buy that menu. His depth of research and readable, engaging writing are 2nd to none.

If you want drivel, this isn't it

This well-documented and well-argued book is contrary to the accepted drivel we were all taught

1 of 2 people found this review helpful

A comprehensive study about a fundamental moment.

What made the experience of listening to Hiroshima Nagasaki the most enjoyable?

The diverse aspects about the bombs.

What other book might you compare Hiroshima Nagasaki to and why?

6 months in 1945

Which scene was your favorite?

The description of the two bombs effects

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

the same

1 of 2 people found this review helpful

Detailed and harrowing

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

The section describing the immediate aftermath of the bombing of Hiroshima is quite harrowing, with personal and graphic descriptions that took me back to my visit of the Hiroshima Peace Museum and the Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims.

1 of 2 people found this review helpful

Honest and balanced account

What did you love best about Hiroshima Nagasaki?

Paul Ham presents a honest and balanced account of the atomic bombings. Ham shows that no decisions, whether horrific or insignificant, can be pigeon holed as either a black or white finality by later day armchair historians. Ham presents the cacophony of voices that spoke for and against the use of atomic weapons and gives flesh to a few of the Japanese who survived the attack. I thoroughly enjoyed that Ham presented all sides, facts, opinions, and innuendoes and did not lead the reader, but allowed you to come to your own conclusions about this time in our history.
I learned more about the Manhattan Project and the results of its work than any other source I have yet read. "Hiroshima Nagasaki" reads like a historic novel where I sometimes forget I already know the ending.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Hiroshima Nagasaki?

It was very illuminating to learn about the real reasons for Japan's surrender.

Which character – as performed by Robert Meldrum – was your favorite?

I thought Mr. Meldrum portrayed all characters very well, but I enjoyed his rendition of Roosevelt the most.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Another Day of Infamy

1 of 3 people found this review helpful

Very Interesting

What made the experience of listening to Hiroshima Nagasaki the most enjoyable?

A very comprehensive study of the events and background with particular reference to individual protagonists and victims.

Would you recommend Hiroshima Nagasaki to your friends? Why or why not?

Certainly.

What didn’t you like about Robert Meldrum’s performance?

He's got a very pleasing voice but there is no excuse for the frequent mispronunciations of Japanese (and even some English) words and especially names, which were at times torturous. Of all Far Eastern languages, Japanese must have the most accessible pronunciation - there is no excuse for either the narrator or the producer not doing their homework.

0 of 1 people found this review helpful

One of the best studies into this subject

I recommend this book to anyone interested in this subject as it is straight forward, interesting and well researched. Nothing really new in the history, but the book does tell a story with fact, detail and feeling. Nobody will feel that they are left 'holding the blame' but you do get the idea of what went on. Well written by Paul Ham (I think one of Australia's best historians), well read by Robert Meldrum. I think not only a good book but a great book.

0 of 1 people found this review helpful