Hiroshima

By: John Hersey

Narrated by: George Guidall

A journalistic masterpiece. John Hersey transports us back to the streets of Hiroshima, Japan on August 6, 1945 - the day the city was destroyed by the first atomic bomb. Told through the memories of six survivors, Hiroshima is a timeless, powerful classic that will awaken your heart and your compassion. In this new edition, Hersey returns to Hiroshima to find the survivors - and to tell their fates in an eloquent and moving final chapter.

©1985 John Hersey (P)2000 Recorded Books, LLC

Reread

Reread this classic; shows human effects of 1945 nuclear event. Seen through the eyes of several survivors, it leaves to the imagination many questions. First published in 1946, this edition includes a 1989 update. As a high school student, I remember "analyzing" this book--without a lifetime's experience, that made no sense. Now, it does.

Mankind Must Never Forget This Event

The Book Was Well Written And Researched. I Was Familiar With The Event Itself And Hearing These Surviving Individuals Stories Really Brought Home
How Horrible War Really Is. A Very Worthwhile Read.
S. A. Renner

Really Great Book about a Really Awful Subject.

If you could sum up Hiroshima in three words, what would they be?

Terrifying, Captivating, Powerful

What was one of the most memorable moments of Hiroshima?

I was captivated by the personal details of the stories like what they were eating, wearing, and thinking when the blast happened. It was a very intimate look into the lives of these survivors.

Have you listened to any of George Guidall’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have not, but I think I will in the future.

Breathing , human perspective of the suffering of the people of Hiroshima Japan a history lesson for all humanity.

The book isn't dramatic, it it told from the point of view of the people who loved it. The pace of the book is informative and descriptive, I had to take a weeks break after the description of the victims of radiation poisining. What to say about a book that stole the worlds from my mouth. I went to Hiroshima, and I saw the the cenotaph. The book places you on the human side of the atom bomb. The feelings the humanity , the society that was altered on a genetic level. The book was informative and heartbreaking. It helped my understanding of the Japanese culture.

Interesting book

This was an interesting book and I learned a lot about the impact of the atomic bomb. It was a bit confusing keeping track of who was who.

Insightful, but Apolitical; Edifying, Not Preachy.

I have never read Hersey's classic and after listening to the entire thing in one sitting I am baffled as to how I overlooked it. The book is phenomenal. It tells the story in a simple, fluid and seamless way. Hersey wrote with compassion and understanding without any hint of being a traitor to his home country which could not have been an easy line to cross in 1946. Today's world is so politically divisive and nobody escapes it -- journalists almost always show their colors in their writing and are deemed too liberal or too conservative. In the time that Hersey wrote this journalistic piece showing any empathy toward the Japanese was considered wrong and he could easily have been treated as a traitor. I am so impressed with his ability to show the right level of respect and warmth for the victims of the bomb and to do all of it without coming out of it sounding preachy.

Never Again

Learned so much from this book. It made me realize how destructive nuclear power is. I pray to God that we never drop another bomb anywhere in the world. There is a book about Nagasaki that is just as important to read. Never again.

Excellent!

Difficult in the beginning but it was completely worth it. Very enlightening.
Understanding the characters at first wax hard.

Quite moving!

This book is a true eye-opener. It shows the side of the dropping of the A-bomb that doesnt get taught in school, its true horrors. Definetely a must-read (listen).

Great Book

This is a wonderful book. It’s a little gory, but not so much that it would deter young or sensitive readers. If you listen to it while following along in the book, you’ll notice slight changes in script, but nothing too extreme. It’s honestly a must read/listen!