• Countdown 1945

  • The Extraordinary Story of the Atomic Bomb and the 116 Days That Changed the World
  • By: Chris Wallace, Mitch Weiss
  • Narrated by: Chris Wallace
  • Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (2,190 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Countdown 1945  By  cover art

Countdown 1945

By: Chris Wallace,Mitch Weiss
Narrated by: Chris Wallace
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $17.99

Buy for $17.99

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

The #1 national bestselling “riveting” (The New York Times), “propulsive” (Time) behind-the-scenes account “that reads like a tense thriller” (The Washington Post) of the 116 days leading up to the American attack on Hiroshima, by Chris Wallace, veteran journalist and CNN anchor and Max host.

April 12, 1945: After years of bloody conflict in Europe and the Pacific, America is stunned by news of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s death. In an instant, Vice President Harry Truman, who has been kept out of war planning and knows nothing of the top-secret Manhattan Project to develop the world’s first atomic bomb, must assume command of a nation at war on multiple continents—and confront one of the most consequential decisions in history. Countdown 1945 tells the gripping true story of the turbulent days, weeks, and months to follow, leading up to August 6, 1945, when Truman gives the order to drop the bomb on Hiroshima.

In Countdown 1945, Chris Wallace, the veteran journalist and CNN anchor and Max host, takes listeners inside the minds of the iconic and elusive figures who join the quest for the bomb, each for different reasons: the legendary Albert Einstein, who eventually calls his vocal support for the atomic bomb “the one great mistake in my life”; lead researcher J. Robert “Oppie” Oppenheimer and the Soviet spies who secretly infiltrate his team; the fiercely competitive pilots of the plane selected to drop the bomb; and many more.

Perhaps most of all, Countdown 1945 is the story of an untested new president confronting a decision that he knows will change the world forever. But more than a book about the atomic bomb, Countdown 1945 is also an unforgettable account of the lives of ordinary American and Japanese civilians in wartime—from “Calutron Girls” like Ruth Sisson in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, to ten-year-old Hiroshima resident Hideko Tamura, who survives the blast at ground zero but loses her mother and later immigrates to the United States, where she lives to this day—as well as American soldiers fighting in the Pacific, waiting in fear for the order to launch a possible invasion of Japan. Told with vigor, intelligence, and humanity, Countdown 1945 is the definitive account of one of the most significant moments in history.

©2020 Chris Wallace. All rights reserved. (P)2020 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

Featured Article: 12 Thrilling History Listens to Get Ready for Oppenheimer


Dubbed the "father of the atomic bomb," J. Robert Oppenheimer was a theoretical physicist who gained notoriety for the role he played in the Manhattan Project and the creation of the very first nuclear weapon. After the atomic bomb was developed, it was deployed by the United States to destroy the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. These listens provide historical context about the man at the center of Christopher Nolan's biopic.

More from the same

What listeners say about Countdown 1945

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1,632
  • 4 Stars
    416
  • 3 Stars
    110
  • 2 Stars
    16
  • 1 Stars
    16
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1,435
  • 4 Stars
    303
  • 3 Stars
    93
  • 2 Stars
    19
  • 1 Stars
    15
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1,464
  • 4 Stars
    313
  • 3 Stars
    52
  • 2 Stars
    14
  • 1 Stars
    8

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Chris Wallace killed it!

While I have read and listened to hundreds of books, I have never written a review that I can remember. I heard Mr. Wallace see on Fox News that he wrote this book to be a historic thriller. I bought it immediately. And he was exactly right. Not only did I learn a lot about the important history of 1945, but I was literally anticipating every new chapter. It reminded me of the first time I saw the movie Titanic. Of course I knew what was going to happen, but I was captivated. Great job Chris Wallace.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

23 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great documentary and style. Slight difference of opinion.

Really a must read with the following comment.

The actual numbers of allied casualties on the invasion of Japan was between one and 4 million with the ratio of over 30% dead from the Okinawa invasion. The 250,000 dead wasn’t early estimate that had no research behind it.

To this day, no new purple crosses are made as they came from the anticipated need for the Japanese invasion.

Japanese deaths were pegged at roughly 25 million. This corresponds to what the Japanese military assumed would happen. 25% of their population (109 million) would be sacrificed for the honor of the emperor. That was quite acceptable to them.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

17 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Reads like a thriller

Fantastic book by Chris Wallace! I was so enthralled that I was looking for reasons to get in my car so I could listen to more of the book. I especially enjoyed the stories about the various participants and then what became of them after.
Really well-done.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

very interesting I couldn't stop listening.

it gave you a sense of the feelings of those involved about what was happening as well as the historic events themselves. My Dad was a mechanic who was there and he worked on the Enola Gay. I never understood the significance of what he did. He was a very modest man. I am sorry that he didn't get to hear the book. I m sure he would have loved it. He just passed last October at the age of 93.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Countdown 1945

I just started this book
I'm 86 years old And lived through this time and knew Very little Of the background about this book
Will add my review after a finish the book this very good this far

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Countdown 1945

Countdown 1945 is documentation of the people, events that took place from the death of Franklin Roosevelt to August 1945 when US bombs dropped on Japan to end WWII. Details of the secrecy, the emotions of characters from Truman, Stalin, Tibbits and the Enola Gay, his crew, other military and scientific leaders, the girls in plants in the rural mountains, tests in Los Alamos, struggles to create ... and ultimately use, the atomic bomb.

Even if you think you know the fundamental history of this event, you will definitely be educated about intricate details you did not know.

The book reads like a novel - but it is all true. Recommended.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellant!

Excellant book, I'm sure Wallace didn't write it. Should have been performed by someone who wasn't such a traitor to America, Chris Wallace. I wonder how Wallace covered Bill Clinton's shameful apology to the Japanese. The bomb probably saved a million lives on both sides. Japanese never apologized for their beastly inhuman treatment of Americans. We're still waiting!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

The bar has now been raised!! Absolutely FABULOUS!

The amount of investigating necessary to write such a book is amazing.
I have recommended it highly

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

important read

this is a really important story told her perspective I had not heard before. Existing just how powerful a weapon or World possesses thoughtfully it came into being yet still house Gary r x r. Chris Wallace should have paid someone to read his book; a good writer not a good reader.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Listening to His Voice

Listening to Chris Wallace reading his own book, “Countdown 1945” is like listening to a radio show. I like it. I’ve read a lot about the atomic bomb and pretty much learned enough information to finally pass a history class from other authors. Instead, I bought this audiobook not so much to know the timeline of what happened in the past, but more as entertainment. I could imagine myself sitting in the kitchen and listening to the radio to a journalist, reporting what happened in those unsettling days.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful