John Hersey's Hiroshima: A Story of Loss and Resilience

Love it, hate it, read it, watch it.: History is not always pretty, but we should try to understand the effects of political decisions, no matter how distressing.

United States on Nov 27, 2023

A.J. Simmons: A masterpiece of on-the-ground reporting. Truly compelling without being emotionally manipulative or preachy. The survivors are inspiring for refusing to be defined by the tragedy they suffered.

United States on Nov 13, 2023

Amazon Customer: Boring with detail. Guess that's all they could do.

United States on Oct 25, 2023

Chantal PERRIN: Un récit poignant de 6 personnes différentes, non connectées, qui se trouvaient à Hiroshima ce 6 août 1945… l’auteur les a suivi pendant des décennies pour discuter de leur vie avant et après … qu’est ce qui a changé dans leurs vies ? ainsi que leurs perceptions de l’après …
A lire absolument …

France on Sep 01, 2023

Shashwat: It is a wonderfull book describing the horror and terror faced by Hiroshima and the people living in Hiroshima.
It has detailed description of the blast and while reading you will feel that the victims are telling their stories sitting beside you.
A must read book for the people interested in Hiroshima happenings.

India on Aug 28, 2021

gorka zubiaur: Libro indispensable para saber que pasó y las consecuencias de la Bomba en Hiroshima

Spain on Jul 31, 2021

Dr. John Ryan: It is now 75 years since the USA used atomic bombs to destroy the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. These bombs instantly killed about 200,000 people and thousands more died horrible deaths later from the burns and radiation sickness. US leaders did not want the world to know the horrific extent of what they had done. General MacArthur headed the US occupation forces in Japan and would not allow anyone to report what actually happened. However, a year later (1946) John Hersey through the efforts of the fledgling New Yorker magazine managed to get permission for two weeks to view the scene in Hiroshima. In addition to viewing the incredible damage, he did comprehensive interviews with six of the Hiroshima survivors. On his return to the US he wrote an alarming account based on these interviews. His entire story appeared in the New Yorker on August 31, 1946. It was a shock to read--finally the truth came out as to what happened on August 6, 1945. This was reported the world over, and later this story came out as a book, entitled "Hiroshima". What the book does not make clear is that the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was not responsible for ending the war. It was actually...

Canada on Jul 01, 2021

Guenther: Werden wir aus diesem Chaos irgendwann etwas lernen? Nein! Die Produktionen der neuesten Bomben laufen auf Hochtouren! 🙏

Germany on Sep 02, 2019

Timothy Miyahara: The Kindle edition is missing Chapter 5. This is the eBook edition published by Pickle Partners (ASIN B00QU4BBTY). Chapter 5 is the John Hersey follow up 40 years later telling the story of the main characters after the original magazine article in 1946. The kindle edition does not disclose that it includes only the 1946 magazine article text. Read a physical edition published after 1989 for a more complete picture.
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John Hersey's "Hiroshima"
After reading a note written by a German Jesuit priest who survived the atomic bomb at Hiroshima, John Hersey located him and was introduced to five other survivors and documented their stories. When I first read the book, I found the story moving, shocking and disturbing. The vivid depictions of the survivors and their struggle to live through the next few days are eye-openers. The new chapter added 40 years later provides some closure to the story of their lives.

The prose is simple yet the reader is able to get a good grasp on events and environment. John Hersey wrote Hiroshima in a neutral tone and style. He told interviewer Steve Rothman, "The flat style was deliberate and I still think I was right to adopt it. A...

United States on Nov 03, 2015

Chad Oberholtzer: In his classic book, "Hiroshima," John Hersey simply and powerfully tells the story of six residents of Hiroshima who were dramatically and traumatically impacted by the dropping of the atomic bomb near the end of World War II. I've always been fascinated by World War II history and have deeply appreciated works of art like "Band of Brothers" or "Ghost Soldiers," which help to bring humanity and complexity into our perceptions of war, which are too often overly abstract and neatly simplistic (good guys vs. bad guys, hopefully the good guys won). But "Hiroshima" does something even more challenging but no less important for American readers, bringing that humanity and complexity from the perspective of the "enemy," in this case Japanese doctors, clergy, mothers, and office workers with no particular political or military associations.

The central strength of the book is its gripping account of the lives of these six individuals, setting the stage before the bomb was dropped, describing the events that immediately followed the immense explosion, and following the impact of that cataclysmic event in the ensuing months and years. In fact, a final chapter, written 40 years after...

United States on Dec 27, 2014