Hiroshima-65th anniversary

On August 6, 1945, the U.S. dropped the first atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, instantly killing 70,000 people. Three days later, a second bomb struck Nagasaki, killing another 40,000. This was the first time in history that such a devastating weapon had been used by any nation. On the 65th anniversary of the bombings, several books explore this military decision and the people behind it. “American Prometheus” by Kai Bird is a rich sympathetic portrayal of J. Robert Oppenheimer, hero, patriot and “Father of the Atomic Bomb” who remains a key figure in 20-century American history. Stephane Groueff’s Manhattan Project, the untold story of the making of the atomic bomb has a non-technical narrative of the actual making of the first atomic bomb with an accent on the personal cases of the participants and the industrial companies that built it.