Leo Szilard, a Hungarian-Jewish immigrant, sat stopped at a
London traffic signal one day in 1933. It was there, as the light changed, that
he first conceived of the idea for a nuclear bomb. He was horrified by the
thought of the destruction it could cause to life as we know it.
That thought, just as with an atomic explosion, had a chain
reaction which, by 1939, would have Germany trying to build an atomic weapon of
her own, and Mr. Szilard lobbying the United States to build one first. After
all, there was no doubt that Hitler would use it should he attain it first;
while we could always make one and choose not to. At least, that was the plan.
This whole extraordinary set of events were the beginnings
of what eventually became the Cold War, with its policy of Mutually Assured Destruction,
which would last for decades. The shadow of that policy; along with the
collapse of the Soviet Union in the late 1980’s; has been that there are now
more nuclear weapons in the hands of more governments than could possibly be
deemed “healthy” for the world’s future survival. But all that came later.
First came “Trinity”; the test of the first atomic bomb; in the desert of New
Mexico on July 16, 1945.
It seemed of little consequence at the time that the weapon
designed for use against the Nazi’s in Europe, would now be used to end the war
in the Pacific, which began, for the United States, with the Japanese attack on
Pearl Harbor in 1941. The Japanese had been at war in the Pacific since 1933
and the invasion of China and the Rape of Nanking, while the Germans had been
taking over countries in Europe beginning in 1938. It was only after they
invaded Poland in September of 1939 that the English went to war with her. We
would not join in that effort until after the Pearl Harbor attack.
This is the most informative book I have ever read on the
first atomic bomb which was dropped on Hiroshima on August 5, 1945. Where other
books have focused either on the effects of the bomb on the ground; such as
“Hiroshima” by John Hersey; or the myriad of books which talk of the morality
of the event; and even the workings of the Manhattan Project; this book delves
into the beginnings of the search for the technology to build the bomb, as well
as the training of the men who would drop it.
The book also covers the negotiations
which the Japanese were seeking to hold with Russia as a way of suing for peace
and an end to the war. The stalling by the Soviets, while pretending that they
had no knowledge of the bomb’s existence, would be instrumental in the success
of the Americans to end the war in the Pacific. It would also trigger a nuclear
arms race which would color our lives forever after
.
The author also explores the origins of the 509th
Bomber Group and their unusual makeup, which included a few felons with false
names. They were given their criminal files and a match after the mission was
over.
For all of the planning of the bomb’s construction and use,
nobody was quite sure if it would work. On the other hand, there were some
among the group of scientists, including Leo Szilard, who saw the possibility
of igniting the entire atmosphere of the planet, killing us all. Up until the
very last moment these men would lobby the President to discontinue the plan to
use the bomb. The story of how their message was delayed, before it was
relayed, will raise questions in your own mind as to the purpose of using the
bomb at all. There was still the fear that the Germans would get one first.
Ironically, the Germans had all but given up on the
development of a nuclear bomb by the close of the war. And the Russians had no
interest in one unless we proved one could be made to work. And of course, both
the United States and the Soviets would benefit greatly from the acquisition of
the German rocket scientists at the close of the war with Germany in May 1945.
At that point we were too close to finishing work on the Manhattan Project to
stop.
The author has spared no subject in this comprehensive
history of the final countdown to the actual dropping of the bomb, and an
examination of the effects of that mission in the first 24 hours after it was
accomplished. The book also examines the lives of the men who first conceived
of, and then made happen, the single most important event which would change
the nature of warfare in general, and the geo-politics that surround it.
With the countdown towards the final assembly and shipment
of the bomb, part of which encompasses the story of the USS Indianapolis on its
voyage to Tinian, the book also recounts the Japanese effort to start peace
talks through the Soviets. At the same time as she was talking peace, Japan was
also preparing to turn Japan into a veritable fortress which would cost almost
a million American lives to invade. This was the same duplicitous process
which she had used to buy time for the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor. However, by this
point, there was no turning back on the plan to use the bomb.
As a result of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, there
has not been a declared war since the end of World War Two. It’s almost as if
declared wars, rather than police actions, could possibly escalate into full
blown nuclear confrontation between “super-powers.” This was exactly what happened
in Vietnam; the United States and the Soviet Union fought a war by proxy; using
the Vietnamese as pawns in a game which can only have one ending; with both
sides looking to avoid a direct confrontation with the other.
If you think you have learned all that you need to know
about the history of the world’s first atomic bomb, then this book will quickly
disabuse you of that notion, while providing the reader a ringside seat to one
of the most important developments of the 20th century.
