Fallout

The Hiroshima Cover-Up and the Reporter Who Revealed It to the World

By: Lesley M.M. Blume

Narrated by: Fred Sanders

Length: 6 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

A New York Times Notable Book of 2020

New York Times best-selling author Lesley M.M. Blume reveals how one courageous American reporter uncovered one of the deadliest cover-ups of the 20th century - the true effects of the atom bomb - potentially saving millions of lives.

Just days after the United States decimated Hiroshima and Nagasaki with nuclear bombs, the Japanese surrendered unconditionally. But even before the surrender, the US government and military had begun a secret propaganda and information suppression campaign to hide the devastating nature of these experimental weapons. The cover-up intensified as Occupation forces closed the atomic cities to Allied reporters, preventing leaks about the horrific long-term effects of radiation that would kill thousands during the months after the blast. For nearly a year the cover-up worked - until New Yorker journalist John Hersey got into Hiroshima and managed to report the truth to the world.

As Hersey and his editors prepared his article for publication, they kept the story secret - even from most of their New Yorker colleagues. When the magazine published "Hiroshima" in August 1946, it became an instant global sensation and inspired pervasive horror about the hellish new threat that America had unleashed. Since 1945, no nuclear weapons have ever been deployed in war partly because Hersey alerted the world to their true, devastating impact. This knowledge has remained among the greatest deterrents to using them since the end of World War II.

Released on the 75th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing, Fallout is an engrossing detective story, as well as an important piece of hidden history that shows how one heroic scoop saved - and can still save - the world.

©2020 Lesley M. M. Blume. All rights reserved. (P)2020 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.

Excellent book, chilling details of Hiroshima

I thought this an excellent recap of the telling of the true affects on the Hiroshima people, the attempted cover ups and how important true journalism is the and most certainly now!

Captivating story

A well-narrated timeless story which certainly resonates today given the climate of attacks on press freedom, transparency and facts. Powerful epilogue.

The story behind the story

Though I read Hiroshima 50 years -after its writing I certainly will not forget it. Fallout is a wonderful companion to illustrate the extraordinary lengths taken to research write & publish the piece and the impact it made in so many ways.

Riveting read

This gifted reporter does great justice in sharing the story of the landmark story that sent its own shock waves around the world. Blume not only reinvigorates a masterpiece but highlights the government’s shameful coverup by her own investigation. Fallout should be required high school reading for even the small chance that it would inspire future journalists to want to follow in Hersey’s and Blume’s honorable paths.

First-rate in every respect!

There are books I would suggest that are best, or at least as well, listened to as read. The narration here is superb, the substance readily grasped, and the subject matter both riveting and important. I could not recommend this book more highly.

fallout - great detail and insight

Good information. caused me to research more. especially since I live near to Los Alamos and Trinity. also caused me to research atrocities on both sides of the war.
Although saddened by the horrorible suffering that followed Hiroshima, I have no doubt that had our enemies achieved the A-bomb first, it would have been used on us.

great book

This is a wonderful story. it is well-written and the author uncovered a lot of interesting information about Mr. Hersey and the cover up by the US military.

The Story Of Cause And Effect

Thank you to Ms. Blume for telling this story and once again shining light on the immense destructive power of nuclear weapons and the effort by the government to keep that power secret from the public. I can’t say that in that time, any of us might have made a different decision to use these weapons after such a long, dark conflict. It is easy to look back now, out of context of the time and say, “No, we can’t use this weapon”. Walking in history’s shoes is much easier decades later than when it is happening.

Still, there is always cause and effect for any action and the impact to Hiroshima, and later Nagasaki, was horrible on the people of Japan and later on the peoples of the world. Hersey’s story should be required reading for all time with Ms. Blume’s story as an addendum. Because cause and effect will always be with us when deciding which action to take. Thoughtful consideration of the many outcomes of any action to be taken is not weakness, but rather to honor those who are directly impacted and will follow.

Timeless, and still useful.

My non-fiction book group has a motto, books that change the way you understand the world. Our Japanese member suggested this title as one to fulfill our “regional studies” quota for the year(areas such as East, South or Southwest Asia; Central America; etc.) Wow! Powerful words, simply stated in a very moving way to tell the tale of government officials, journalists, ordinary people and the after-effects on global international relations. My late father fought with MacArthur in the SW Pacific Theater of WWII en route to Japan. I’ve read my way from Bataan to Port Moresby, and through the islands to the Philippines. This was a powerful bookend to that story.

Required reading (listening, too)!

This true-to-life story is a required lesson in humanity and democracy. The impact of John Hersey’s Hiroshima is renewed with contextual relevance to not only 1946, but also compellingly more than ever to today’s hair-trigger world. It is a civics lesson for young persons and old alike. It is a pointer to how powerful people write events and create histories colored by their own precepts, desires, and greed, and renews Americans’ obligation to question and assert.