On August 6, 1945, the United States dropped the atomic bomb on both Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. These bombings, a few days apart, absolutely leveled both islands. This book features several true accounts of people who - against all odds - survived the Hiroshima bombing.
I still don't know how anyone could have survived such a disaster, but they did. One man happened to be caught under a mattress when the house around him was obliterated, collapsing on top of him. He and many of his neighbors wandered around, stunned, while trying to figure out what in the world happened. They tried to help other survivors, but some were too far gone. The author, John Hersey, described their catastrophic injuries in detail. Nothing can prepare you for these graphic details.
I have read quite a few books about the U.S. war with Japan, including accounts of American prisoners of war, who were held in deplorable conditions and tortured. After reading Hiroshima, I am more convinced than ever that war is horrible for all involved, and that people do awful things to each other for reasons I will never understand. War is tragedy. No one really wins.
This was a short book that I read in a weekend, and I'd recommend it, if you think you can handle the really gory parts. It's not a horror novel, it's real life, and it really happened.
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