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The Survivors Look Back
by Charles Pellegrino
March 1 2010: This book has been withdrawn from sale by the publisher due to substantial inaccuracies, more about this...
Drawing on the voices of atomic-bomb survivors and the new science of forensic archaeology, Charles Pellegrino describes the events and aftermath of two days in August when nuclear devices detonated over Japan changed life on Earth forever.
Last Train from Hiroshima offers readers a stunning “you are there” time capsule, gracefully wrapped in elegant prose. Charles Pellegrino’s scientific authority and close relationship with the A-bomb’s survivors make his account the most gripping and authoritative ever written.
At the narrative's core are eyewitness accounts of those who experienced the atomic explosions firsthand—the Japanese civilians on the ground and the American flyers in the air. Thirty people are known to have fled Hiroshima for Nagasaki—where they arrived just in time to survive the second bomb. One of them, Tsutomu Yamaguchi, is the only person who experienced the full effects of the cataclysm at ground zero both times. The second time, the blast effects were diverted around the stairwell in which Yamaguchi had been standing, placing him and a few others in a shock cocoon that offered protection, while the entire building disappeared around them.
Pellegrino weaves spellbinding stories together within an illustrated narrative that challenges the "official report," showing exactly what happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki—and why.
"Starred Review. [A] wise, informed protest against any further use of these terrible weapons." - Publishers Weekly
"Starred Review. Enormously painful to read, but absolutely essential to do so." - Kirkus Reviews
"Although there is already a substantial and eloquent body of work on the subject, Pellegrino's able exposition of the mechanisms, results, aftermath, and healing will find readers among antiwar patrons, peace researchers, and some military readers, but it is an addition to a crowded genre." - Library Journal
"A frightening, grim, yet fascinating examination of the nuclear attacks on Japan....This is shocking, well-written, and will counter the oft expressed opinion that [nuclear bombs] are 'just another weapon.'" - Booklist
"With this volume, Pellegrino has brought all of this important information to light and makes a clear and compelling case for never using nuclear weapons again." - School Library Journal (Adult Books for High Schoolers)
This information about The Last Train from Hiroshima was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Charles Pellegrino is co-author of the bestseller The Jesus Family Tomb. He is the author of nineteen books, including Her Name, Titanic, and Ghosts of the Titanic, which James Cameron used as major sources for his blockbuster movie Titanic and the Imax film Ghosts of the Abyss. Pellegrino has a PhD in zoology and has contributed to many popular magazines, including Science and Smithsonian. He lives in New York City.
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