Extremely interesting look at how the bombing of Hiroshima was understood and processed after the event. This tremendously destructive and unknown force was unleashed on an unwitting populace, with stories coming out soon after about secret cities and a tremendous industrial effort to produce the weapon. It sort of catalyzed the self-image of the US as uniquely super-heroic in both a moral and power sense; since they realized only the purest of motives could justify such destruction, they retroactively justified their actions as higher virtue and not base self-interest.

It feels like an event that was the formative germ for the back-half of the century, and often downplayed or lumped-in with the other huge changes happening at the time. The book does a great job of explaining how potent and psychologically charged the event was, even and perhaps especially 50 years later when it came time for the Smithsonian to try and create a commemorative exhibit.

The somewhat less-successful parts of the book is when it gets more abstract and speculative, usually with regards to the specific psychology of some individuals involved like Truman. But still, a really worthwhile and uniquely interesting book to read. Surprised it's pretty obscure only 25 years later.