The Impact of the A-Bomb; Hiroshima and Nagasaki, 1945-85

Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, 1985. First English Language Edition [stated], First printing [stated]. Trade paperback. Very good. xx, 218 pages. Illustrations. Chronology. Selected Bibliography. Index. Format is approximately 5.25 inches by 8 inches. Cover has slight wear and soiling. Bookmark or receipt (with information in English and Japanese present and the ISBN number also present). Foreword by the Mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This book was published simultaneously in Japanese and English editions. By August 1945, the Allies' Manhattan Project had produced two types of atomic bombs, and the 509th Composite Group of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) was equipped with the specialized Silverplate version of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress that could deliver them from Tinian in the Mariana Islands. Orders for atomic bombs to be used on four Japanese cities were issued on July 25. On August 6, one of its B-29s dropped a Little Boy uranium gun-type bomb on Hiroshima. Three days later, on August 9, a Fat Man plutonium implosion-type bomb was dropped by another B-29 on Nagasaki. The bombs immediately devastated their targets. Roughly half of the deaths in each city occurred on the first day. Large numbers of people continued to die from the effects of burns, radiation sickness, and other injuries, compounded by illness and malnutrition, for many months afterward. Hiroshima had a sizable military garrison.