Becasue they're JUST MEAN ! ( )

As the title implies, this book is about the “real” reasons the US dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Takaki argues that with the Russians entering the war against Japan and the Japanese on the brink of surrender already, there was no need to drop the bomb, especially not on a civilian population center. He suggests that the primary reason the US dropped the bomb was to threaten Russia and keep her from going too far against American interests in the aftermath of World War II. In addition, American politicians had been using the term “unconditional surrender” to describe their goals after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, but they had been using the phrase more as political propaganda instead of as a realistic and necessary goal. Japan would have been willing to surrender before the atomic bomb was dropped under the condition that Emperor Hirohito would remain in control of the country, and this would have been in the best interests of everyone involved. The war dragged on long enough for the atomic bomb to be completed and dropped because the US refused to compromise on this when they probably should have.

This book did make me think, but the reason I gave it 2 stars was because it was just not well-written. The chapters and sections were quite disorganized and jumped around from one subject to another with no logical transition. It was hard to keep track of what was being talked about. There was no central thesis or chronological discussion of events. In addition, the book was only about 150 pages, which I think was too short for this topic. I would think that there would be a lot more research out there on this. In addition, Takaki didn’t use the space he had effectively. An entire chapter was devoted to the idea that Truman was racist and that the US used racist propaganda against the Japanese (something they didn’t do against the Germans and Italians). While I don’t argue with the fact that this happened and was wrong, I don’t see how it deserves a whole chapter in an already short book.

The book was also very obviously biased in favor of the author’s point of view and personal agenda. Based on my talks with my historian friend, I think Takaki was right about most of what he said, but by presenting the information in such a biased way, it makes me question his authority. As I was reading I kept thinking that there must be another side to the story, and it would have made Takaki’s argument more effective if he had addressed the other side and explained why it was incorrect.

Overall, I think this is a really interesting topic, but I think there are probably better books out there for anyone interested in it. ( )

Takaki gives the standard arguments against dropping the bomb but adds a new one: The U.S dropped the bomb because of the race issue: yellow skin. He argues that the U.S. did not drop the bomb on the Germans because they were Caucasian. However, there is not a new shred of evidence that Takaki offers that can substantiate his case. The U.S. did not drop the Atomic bomb on the German's because it would have been huge collateral damage on the ALLIES in a crowded Europe. The fact is the Atomic bomb did cause the Japanese to surrender. If you haven't read about the Atomic bomb debate, this is a good book, but don't let Takaki persuade you from leaving common sense! ( )

Becasue they're JUST MEAN ! ( )