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kaku

FAKE

Reviewed in the United States on June 22, 2019

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This a PHOTOcopy of the original article printed in the New Yorker by Hersey. It DOES NOT contain the final epilogue written at the anniversary of the original publication. The back cover of the book promises this but the text does not deliver. BUYER BEWARE. "Hiroshima" is worth reading as it was intended. Do not settle for this forgery.

Lynnikins

Does NOT include the 1985 Aftermath!

Reviewed in the United States on August 20, 2019

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This book is a deceptive large format photographic facsimile of the original book that does NOT include the 1985 Aftermath of the six survivors. This shoddy book reproduces the 1985 cover, suggesting it includes Hershey's additional interviews, published in the New Yorker as "Hiroshima: The Aftermath," but it is in fact a cheap reproduction of the 1946 original. Why even publish a NEW book that does not include Hershey's significant contemporary additions to the stories? This is a sham version that is not worth the money. The 1985 edition is available from other sellers.

E. S.

I am so angry. Wasted money on the wrong edition

Reviewed in the United States on November 15, 2019

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Though it is marketed as such, this edition does not contain the final chapter (epilogue) of the book (written many years later). This section is extremely important for the class that I am taking, and I found that I have wasted my money on an incomplete version of the book that masquerades as the full version.

jnmsandy

Amazon printing= poor quality

Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2020

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This book is not the original- some very cheaply printed version. Looks like it was photocopied, with the ink at 50%. Purchased a NEW paperback copy with Amazon as the seller, not mass market paperback. $2 more for a cheaper version.

As far as the content, it is probably an essential read for adults, but explicitly graphic. My 13 year old started to read it as part of a homeschool class, and had to stop because she couldn't handle the gore.

grizziesmom

Real history that should be required reading

Reviewed in the United States on January 26, 2016

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If you never read another book about what war really is, read this one. Stunning, unforgettable, amazing what we are capable of doing to our fellow man. This is the type of history book that your children need to be reading; one that is reality based, one that creates discussion and reflection on what they value in life and how they view the world events of yesteryear and today. One word picture that I cannot get out of my mind is the description of the shadows of objects and people being emblazoned on structures by the flash of the bomb. The objects and people were incinerated but their presence in place and time was recorded for the survivors and observers. I found Hiroshima thought provoking and although I do not read/study historical events in depth as a rule, I find that I am moved to learn more about our history before someone tries to re-write it and make the truth disappear before our very eyes.

JK130971

Deeply disturbing

Reviewed in the United States on June 28, 2017

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I found this book deeply disturbing, but then again I think there is no other way to think about a dropped atomic bomb.

Even though the story was overwhelming, I found the people's stories very touching and immensely human. The fact that they did not simply give up. The fact that they tried to help one another, the fact that they somehow made it through whilst tens of thousands of others did not; this is what I have taken away from this book.

I truly feel this should be read by all students as they learn about WWII

boomerpsyc

A difficult book, and one that must be read

Reviewed in the United States on December 16, 2016

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As the world devolves into autocratic leadership and dictatorships that have the ability to destroy the world, it is important to look at what we have done and consider the danger that rests in the hands of governments that use military solutions to complex problems. This book graphically and objectively depicts the horrible results of our dropping an atomic bomb on the citizens of Hiroshima. War at any level is abhorrent, but this was inhumane and horrific. An important book for the ages..

Delta D.

A landmark piece of journalism

Reviewed in the United States on September 16, 2020

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This is one of the very rare pieces of journalism that left a serious mark on history. It describes, in gruesome detail, what some lucky (?) survivors of the Hiroshima bombing underwent at the time of the bombing and during its immediate aftermath..

Unlike the paperback edition I found at my parents' house in the early 60s, this has an additional, much more recently-added, chapter describing what happened to those survivors in the subsequent decades.

The book is no-one's idea of fun to read but its impact continues to be immense.

Top reviews from other countries

Micky McGuinness

A strong soft voice in the silence

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 19, 2016

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Having read a number of books in the last 12 months which deal with the Japanese treatment of prisoners of war, civilians, indigenous populations, pretty much anything and anyone that got in their way… culminating with reading the Rape of Nanking Rape Of Nanking I felt that I should really read something that would show some of the suffering of the ordinary Japanese.

Hershey’s book follows the lives of six individuals who survived the sheer devastation caused by the dropping of the Atomic Bomb in Hiroshima. He manages to achieve this in such a way that his narration is barely noticeable, it is as if the characters are telling their own story.
In this way we get to experience the horror and suffering through the eyes of the victims themselves.

This book is not about shock and gore; it is a good example of how a story told gently and with compassion can sometimes have a far greater impact.

I’d recommend it to anyone who wants to read a good well written account of what happens to ordinary people when nuclear and atomic bombs are used on them.

Those people who are looking for a history of the Manhattan Project or for information on the war in the Pacific will not find it here… but that was not the book Hershey was trying to write…

James Schofield

This publicity blurb seems to be to be seriously misleading - watch out

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 12, 2020

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The blurb states that this respected reporter went back to Hiroshima 4 decades afterwards and that "His account of what he discovered about them is now the eloquent and moving final chapter of Hiroshima" - that may be true. However, the moving final chapter is not included in this cheaply printed edition by bnpublishing, despite this assertion - and although the book supplier (Book Depository have said they will refund, they have also said they are " unable to reimburse customers for expenses incurred when returning titles to us" - which renders the refund offer fairly meaningless in my opinion.

Officer Dibble

The balancing act

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 25, 2017

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A momentous piece of journalism exposing the effects of nuclear weapons ably reviewed by others.

Yet isn't it dreadful how decades of exposure to media bias can introduce cynicism even to a piece such as this? Looking back at Mr Hersey's work, it would be difficult to create a more 'deserving' cross-section of survivors to a Western audience in 1946. Two medics (one from the neutral Red Cross hospital), a Reverend (with pre-war friends in the USA), a war widow struggling with three small children (whose soldier husband died in the fall of Singapore and therefore less associated with later wartime atrocities), a Jesuit priest (one of literally a handful of Westerners in the city), a young female clerk whose father does war work ('making rubber ear plugs for gun crew' ; surely the most non-controversial 'war work' ever devised?).

Mr Hersey's compelling book describes the appalling impact on many others, including soldiers, yet his selection of the key dramatis personae is interesting. If you haven't read it, you should.

Sally

A very good eye opener to the real life atrocities of the ...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 2, 2017

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A very good eye opener to the real life atrocities of the atomic bomb falling over Hiroshima from the eyes of 6 survivors. This gives the book a lot of credibility and made me live this catastrophe as though I was a fly on the wall of one of the destroyed buildings. Very good writing style that is more concerned about conveying the truth above all. A recommended read if one is interested to know about the human aspect of this man-made disaster rather than the political analysis of it.

Julie C

'One of the best books my dad ever read'

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 19, 2017

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I purchased this for my dad who frequently said it was one of the best books he ever read. a few years ago
but had misplaced his copy. He was so pleased but sadly, he didn't finish it before he passed away (at 82 years) last year.
It is now on my bookshelf awaiting a time I can bring myself to read it too.

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