The Decision to use the Atomic Bomb - Couverture rigide

Alperovitz, Gar

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 0002556146 ISBN 13 : 9780002556149

Editeur : HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, 1995

Synopsis

On 6th and the 9th of August 1945, US B-52 bombers, Enola Gay and co., dropped their nuclear bombs on Japan, devastating two large cities Hiroshima and Nagaski, killing hundreds of thousands, polluting the earth irredeemably, and consigning millions as yet unborn to genetic defects born of mutations brought about in those few who survived the mushroom clouds. On 10th August 1945, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan. Had they done so earlier, the Japanese would have surrendered instantly. The US authorities knew Stalin was about to declare war and sought to invade Manchuria, and sought to pre-empt him, hence the nuclear annihilation unleashed just a day before. But why did the Americans kill so many and blight the future of millions more if the Japanese were to surrender anyway? Alperovitz, a scholar of the politics of nuclear capability, has excavated some secret archives over many years, meticulously piecing together conclusive evidence in the form of presidential memoranda and letters to show that the purpose of decimating Nagasaki and Hiroshima was not to bring the dogged Japanese generals to surrender, but rather to proclaim to the whole world, to all potential aggressors, but above all to Stalin amd Molotov, that the West was in possession of a terrifying new weapon. The irony is of course, that the Soviet Union had already made great strides in its own nuclear programme, and would shortly match the West warhead to warhead.

A propos du livre

Biographie de l'auteur

Gar Alperovitz, author of What Then Must We Do? Straight Talk About the Next American Revolution and The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb, is the Lionel R. Bauman Professor of Political Economy at the University of Maryland, College Park. He is a former fellow of King’s College, Cambridge; a founding fellow of Harvard’s Institute of Politics; a fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies; and a guest scholar at the Brookings Institution. also served as a legislative director in the US House of Representatives and the US Senate, and as a special assistant in the  US Department of State. Alperovitz is a founding principal of the Democracy Collaborative at the University of Maryland, and a member of the board of directors for the New Economics Institute (NEI). More information at garalperovitz.com.

Présentation de l'éditeur

Controversial in nature, this book demonstrates that the United States did not need to use the atomic bomb against Japan. Alperovitz criticizes one of the most hotly debated precursory events to the Cold War, an event that was largely responsible for the evolution of post-World War II American politics and culture.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
• Date d'édition: 1995
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0002556146
• ISBN 13: 9780002556149
• Reliure: Relié
• Numéro d'édition: 1
• Nombre de pages: 847
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible