Atomic Salvation

How the A-Bomb Saved the Lives of 32 Million People

Tom Lewis

A thought-provoking analysis of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki—and what might have happened if conventional weapons were used instead.
It has always been a difficult concept to stomach—that the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, causing such horrific suffering and destruction, also brought about peace. Attitudes toward the event have changed through the years, from grateful relief that World War II was ended to widespread condemnation of the United States.
Atomic Salvation investigates the full situation—examining documents from both Japanese and Allied sources, but also using in-depth analysis to extend beyond the mere recounting of statistics. It charts the full extent of the possible casualties on both sides had a conventional assault akin to D-Day gone ahead against Japan. The work is not concerned solely with the military necessity to use the bombs; it also investigates why that necessity has been increasingly challenged over the successive decades.
Controversially, the book demonstrates that Japan would have suffered far greater casualties—likely around 28 million—if the nation had been attacked in the manner by which Germany was defeated: by amphibious assault, artillery and air attacks preceding infantry insertion, and finally by subduing the last of the defenders of the enemy capital. It also investigates the enormous political pressure placed on America as a result of their military situation. The Truman administration had little choice but to use the new weapon given the more than a million deaths that Allied forces would undoubtedly have suffered through conventional assault.
By charting reaction to the bombings over time, Atomic Salvation shows that there has been relentless pressure on the world to condemn what at the time was seen as the best, and only, military solution to end the conflict. Never has such an exhaustive analysis been made of the necessity behind bringing World War II to a halt.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Copyright
• Title
• Dedication
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Preface
• Introduction
• Chapter One: The A-bomb missions
• Chapter Two: Was Japan going to fight on?
• Chapter Three: Was Japan going to fight on?
• Chapter Four: How much longer could Japan have fought?
• Chapter Five: How would the war have continued if the A-bombs had not been used?
• Chapter Six: How would the war have continued if the A-bombs had not been used?
• Chapter Seven: How would the war have continued if the A-bombs had not been used?
• Chapter Eight: Sea kamikaze forces
• Chapter Nine: Land forces
• Chapter Ten: Alternative defences – Werewolf, chemical and biological warfare operations
• Chapter Eleven: The imperatives of ‘battle rhythm’
• Chapter Twelve: Demonstrations and leaflet drops – was Japan effectively warned?
• Chapter Thirteen: The Russian option
• Chapter Fourteen: Revenge as a motivator – Pearl Harbor, Bataan and Okinawa
• Chapter Fifteen: The actual and possible deaths of POWs as a factor
• Chapter Sixteen: What Allied casualties would have been experienced if the A-bombs had not been used?
• Chapter Seventeen: What casualties would Japan have likely experienced if the A-bombs had not been used?
• Chapter Eighteen: Blaming America
• Appendix: Children’s Books on the Atomic Bombings
• Endnotes