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Mark
LaFave
Hist-4000
6/25/08
Annotated Bibliography
Sledge, E. B. With The Old Breed At Peleliu And Okinawa. New York
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1981. ix-326.
Eugene B. Sledge writes this book in order to inform his own family what
the war in the Pacific was really like. Sledge uses his own personal
experiences to vividly illustrate what it was like to fight during the
invasions of Peleliu and Okinawa. This memoir depicts life as a Marine
Infantryman during the bloodiest, most ruthless war the world has ever
seen, and deeply depicts the hatred each side had for one another.
Kelly, Cynthia C. The Manhattan Project: The Birth of the Atomic Bomb
in the Words of Its Creators, Eyewitnesses, and Historians. New
York: Black Dog and Leventhal, 2007. xiii-495.
Kelly examines whether the creation of the most terrible weapon in
history is a tragedy or a cause for celebration. Kelly chronicles the
creation of the atomic bomb from the decision to speed research of
nuclear energy all the way to the completion of the bomb. Kelly
discusses the science, scientists and all the people involved in the
Manhattan Project. This monograph also describes the testing and
dropping of the bomb along with new thoughts and concerns that this
devastating weapon that created.
Takaki, Ronald. Hiroshima: Why America Dropped the Atomic Bomb.
Boston, New York, Toronto, London: Little, Brown and Company, 1995.
1-193.
Takaki examines Hiroshima in order to create a serious and substantive
debate concerning the decision to drop the bombs on Hiroshima and
Nagasaki. This book offers abundant information concerning the decision
to research nuclear energy and the decision to drop the bomb on Japan in
August of 1945.
Marston, Daniel. The Pacific War Companion: From Pearl Harbor To
Hiroshima. New York: Osprey Publishing Ltd, 2005. 6-264
Daniel Marston examines the war in the Pacific from the beginning to
end. He takes the story from the invasion of Pearl Harbor all the way
to the dropping of the atomic bomb over Hiroshima. Marston examines the
battle for Okinawa and how the Japanese were not going to surrender
unconditionally which ultimately lead to annihilation.
Tanaka, Yuki. Hidden Horrors: Japanese War Crimes in World War II.
Boulder: Westview Press, 1996. ix-269
Tanaka examines the war crimes that were committed by the Japanese
throughout WWII. The brutality of WWII is exposed throughout this
book. Tanaka reveals how vicious the Japanese imperial army was towards
their enemies, POW’s and especially civilians. The Japanese treated
their POWs very badly, many of which were led to a torturous death. The
Japanese also raped and killed many women and children.
Bernstein, Barton J. The Atomic Bomb: The Critical Issues.
Boston, Toronto: Little, Brown and Company, 1976. Vii-169
Bernstein examines the critical issues surrounding the atomic bombs.
Bernstein addresses the debatable questions regarding the United
States’s usage of nuclear weapons in order to end WWII in 1945. Why were
the bombs dropped? Were they necessary? Were they justifiable?
Bernstein also looks beyond the decision and focuses on the aftermath of
the bombs. Did the bombs contribute to the cold war and how did the
bombings effect atomic diplomacy?
Walker, Samuel J. prompt and utter destruction: TRUMAN AND THE USE
OF ATOMIC BOMBS AGAINST JAPAN. United States of America: The
University of North Carolina Press, 1997, 2004. 1-142
Walker analyzes the reasons behind President Truman’s decision to drop
the atomic bomb over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Walker examines American
domestic policies and U.S.-Soviet relations to further the discussion of
the controversial decision. Walker also examines the Japanese decision
to not consider our terms of unconditional surrender. Walker also
supplies the reader with a chronology of the important events during the
Pacific war that lead to the decisive decision.
Kort, Michael. The Columbia Guide to Hiroshima and the Bomb. New
York: Columbia University Press, 2007. x-435
The Columbia Guide to Hiroshima and the Bomb examines the debate over
Hiroshima. This monograph covers everything from the decision to build
the bomb to the decision to drop the bomb. It also covers the nature of
the war in the Pacific along with Japanese way of thought. Kort
examines the Japanese policy of katsugo (ketsu-go) which made the war
miserable for the United States. This monograph also contains military,
civilian and Japanese documents which provide helpful primary
information.
Coox, Alvin D. "Needless Fear: the Compromise of U.S. Plans to Invade
Japan in 1945." The Journal of Military History 64 (2000):
411-437.
In this article Coox examines the idea of forcing Japan to surrender
unconditionally by invasions rather than using the atomic bomb. Coox
discusses the Japanese rational and their policy of katsugo (Ketsu-go).
Coox also discusses the Japanese terrain, which would have played in the
favor of the Japanese. Japan would have fought to their death and many
American lives would have been lost.
Bastian, Peter. "American History for Australasian Schools." Dropping
the Atomic Bomb. July 2005. Australian Catholic University. 24 June
2008 <http://www.anzasa.arts.usyd.edu.au/ahas/bomb_historiography.html>.
This article by Peter Bastian discusses the historiography of the
decision to drop the atomic bomb. Bastian examines the controversial
debate over the decision to release the atomic bombs over Japan. The
debate is a constant struggle between traditionalists and revisionists.
The debate is broken into three main areas. Were the Japanese ready to
surrender before we dropped the bomb? Did the U.S. ignore the
significance of the Soviet involvement in the war and did the U.S. over
estimate the number of American casualties if we had invaded? President
Harry Truman’s decision to drop the atomic bombs remains a very
controversial topic and will continue to be a cause for debate well into
the future.
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