Road to Surrender: Three Men and the Countdown to the End of World War II

Road to Surrender is a compelling account of the decision to use nuclear weapons against Japan during World War II, written by New York Times bestselling author Evan Thomas. It draws on new access to diaries to tell the story of three men involved in the decision: Henry Stimson, Gen. Carl "Tooey" Spaatz, and Japanese Foreign Minister Shigenori Togo. Stimson, the American Secretary of War, had the responsibility of determining whether to deploy the bomb, and he ultimately recommended dropping it. Spaatz, the Army Air Force Commander, ordered the planes to take off, and Togo was able to convince the emperor to surrender. Thomas uses the diaries of Stimson, Togo, and Spaatz to provide a convincing explanation of the decision and its moral implications. The book is an indispensable read for those who want to understand the moral issues surrounding the use of great power.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 336 pages
Publication date: 04 July 2024
Publisher: Elliott & Thompson Limited

‘A true page-turner. All About History, ☆☆☆☆☆ ‘Urgent, compulsively readable and powerfully resonant Sinclair McKay You know Oppenheimer, the man who created the atomic bomb… Now meet the men who detonated it, and the extraordinary weight of their decisions… Road to Surrender by New York Times bestselling author Evan Thomas is a riveting, immersive account of the agonizing decision to use nuclear weapons against Japan – a crucial turning point in World War II and geopolitical history. At 9:20 a.m. on the morning of May 30, General Groves receives a message to report to the office of the secretary of war “at once.” Stimson is waiting for him. He wants to know: has Groves selected the targets yet? So begins this suspenseful, impeccably researched history that draws on new access to diaries to tell the story of three men who were intimately involved with America’s decision to drop the atomic bomb—and Japan’s decision to surrender. They are Henry Stimson, the American Secretary of War, who had overall responsibility for decisions about the atom bomb; Gen. Carl “Tooey” Spaatz, head of strategic bombing in the Pacific, who supervised the planes that dropped the bombs; and Japanese Foreign Minister Shigenori Togo, the only one in Emperor Hirohito’s Supreme War Council who believed even before the bombs were dropped that Japan should surrender. Henry Stimson had served in the administrations of five presidents, but as the U.S. nuclear program progressed, he found himself tasked with the unimaginable decision of determining whether to deploy the bomb. The new president, Harry S. Truman, thus far a peripheral figure in the momentous decision, accepted Stimson’s recommendation to drop the bomb. Army Air Force Commander Gen. Spaatz ordered the Enola Gay to drop the bomb on Hiroshima, and the B-29s to drop the bomb on Nagasaki. The decision to use the bomb was not made lightly. Stimson and Spaatz had been working on the Manhattan Project since its inception, and they knew the devastating effects of the bomb. They also knew that Japan was unlikely to surrender without a demonstration of America’s military might. The decision to use the bomb was made in the context of a global war that had already claimed the lives of millions of people. The United States had been at war with Japan for two years, and the Japanese had been fighting a brutal war of attrition against the Allies. The Allies had been bombing Japan for months, and the Japanese had been unable to stop them. The decision to use the bomb was also made in the context of a political crisis in the United States. The United States was divided over the use of the bomb, with many Americans opposed to its use. The decision to use the bomb was also made in the context of a moral crisis in the United States. Many Americans believed that the use of the bomb was immoral, and that it would lead to the destruction of the world. Despite these concerns, the decision to use the bomb was made. The bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, and on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. The bombings killed over 200,000 people, and caused widespread destruction. The decision to use the bomb was a turning point in World War II and geopolitical history. It led to the end of the war in the Pacific, and the beginning of the Cold War. It also led to the development of the nuclear arms race, and the threat of nuclear war has remained a major concern for the world ever since. In conclusion, Road to Surrender by Evan Thomas is a riveting, immersive account of the agonizing decision to use nuclear weapons against Japan. It draws on new access to diaries to tell the story of three men who were intimately involved with America’s decision to drop the bomb—and Japan’s decision to surrender. The decision to use the bomb was not made lightly, and it had a profound impact on the world. Despite these concerns, the decision to use the bomb was made, and it has had a lasting impact on the world.

Weight: 284g
Dimension: 129 x 198 x 25 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781783967971