Hiroshima and the historians : debating America's most controversial decision / Kenneth B. Pyle.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Pyle, Kenneth B., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

World War, 1939-1945--Historiography.

World War, 1939-1945.

Atomic bomb--United States--History.

Atomic bomb.

History--Philosophy.

History.

Hiroshima-shi (Japan)--History--Bombardment, 1945--Historiography.

Hiroshima-shi (Japan).

Nagasaki-shi (Japan)--History--Bombardment, 1945--Historiography.

Nagasaki-shi (Japan).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xii, 272 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, England : Cambridge University Press, [2024]

Summary:

The decision to use atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki has been considered the most important - and perhaps most controversial - event in twentieth-century history. It ushered in many of the major developments of our time: the end of World War II, the beginning of the atomic age, the establishment of the American world order, and the start of the Cold War arms race. Kenneth B. Pyle illuminates both the complexities of the event itself and the debates among historians that continue today, as they wrestle with the moral issues of the decision, its necessity and its alternatives. While producing no final resolution to the controversy, historians have nevertheless advanced and deepened our understanding of this event. This accessible and thought-provoking analysis is a case study in the intricate nature of the historian's craft and a reminder of the value of historians in a free society

Contents:

1. The historian's craft

2. The Hiroshima decision

3. Participants and their first draft of history

4. The revisionists

5. Historians and moral judgments

6. Military historians

7. Gauging Japanese responsibility

8. The wider perspective

9. Controversy as a way of life

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 30 May 2024).

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781009477468

1009477463

9781009477475

1009477471

9781009477482

100947748X