Daniel Snowman
Harry Truman’s ‘Decision’ to Drop the Atomic Bomb 80 Years Ago
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Summary
The recent film about J. Robert Oppenheimer (the “father of the A-bomb”) attracted widespread attention and gave rise to a recurrent debate about whether Hiroshima was a “good thing” (it brought World War II to a rapid end with “minimum” loss of life), or one of the most abhorrent political decisions in history. How did Truman reach his decision to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945? A few years later, today’s lecturer, Daniel, had the remarkable opportunity to discuss the entire issue with the man ultimately responsible, Harry Truman himself, in his library in Independence, Missouri.
Daniel Snowman
Daniel Snowman is a social and cultural historian. Born in London to a Jewish family in 1938 and educated at Cambridge and Cornell, Daniel became a lecturer at the University of Sussex and went on to work for many years at the BBC as senior producer of radio features and documentaries. A senior research fellow at the Institute of Historical Research (University of London), his many books include a social history of opera and a study of the cultural impact of the “Hitler Emigrés” and, most recently, his memoir Just Passing Through: Interactions with the World 1938-2021.