Five Days in August - How World War II Became a Nuclear War

Most Americans believe that the Second World War ended because the two atomic bombs dropped on Japan forced it to surrender. Five Days in August boldly presents a different interpretation: that the military did not clearly understand the atomic bombs revolutionary strategic potential, that the Allies were almost as stunned by the surrender as the Japanese were by the attack, and that not only had experts planned and fully anticipated the need for a third bomb, they were skeptical about whether the atomic bomb would work at all. With these ideas, Michael Gordin reorients the historical and contemporary conversation about the A-bomb and World War II.

Info autore

Michael D. Gordin is professor of the history of science at Princeton University. He is the author or editor of several books, including Red Cloud at Dawn: Truman, Stalin, and the End of the Atomic Monopoly.

Riassunto

Most Americans believe that the Second World War ended because the two atomic bombs dropped on Japan forced it to surrender. Five Days in August boldly presents a different interpretation: that the military did not clearly understand the atomic bomb's revolutionary strategic potential, that the Allies were almost as stunned by the surrender as the Japanese were by the attack, and that not only had experts planned and fully anticipated the need for a third bomb, they were skeptical about whether the atomic bomb would work at all. With these ideas, Michael Gordin reorients the historical and contemporary conversation about the A-bomb and World War II.

Five Days in August explores these and countless other legacies of the atomic bomb in a glaring new light. Daring and iconoclastic, it will result in far-reaching discussions about the significance of the A-bomb, about World War II, and about the moral issues they have spawned.

Dettagli sul prodotto

• Autori: Michael D Gordin, Michael D. Gordin, Professor Michael D. Gordin
• Con la collaborazione di: Michael D. Gordin (Prefazione)
• Editore: Princeton University Press
• Lingue: Inglese
• Formato: Tascabile
• Pubblicazione: 18.08.2015
• EAN: 9780691168432
• ISBN: 978-0-691-16843-2
• Pagine: 232
• Categorie: Scienze umane, arte, musica > Storia > XX° secolo (fino al 1945); USA, Japan, European History, HISTORY / Military / General, HISTORY / Europe / General, HISTORY / Military / United States, HISTORY / Military / Nuclear Warfare, Second World War, United States of America, USA, c 1938 to c 1946 (World War Two period), Nuclear weapons, Modern warfare, HISTORY / Wars & Conflicts / World War II / General