Nagasaki: Life After Nuclear War
Susan Southard
2015, 302 pages
Nonfiction
Published 70 years after an atomic bomb was dropped on the Japanese port city, Southard’s Nagasaki: Life After Nuclear War presents the stories of numerous survivors and their experiences following the bomb.
Southard’s story focuses on five hibakusha –“bomb affected people” – in particular, and traces their movements on the morning of the bombing and in the months, years and decades following, highlighting their struggles to recover from devastating injuries and radiation sickness, to rebuild their lives in a decimated city, and to share their stories with the world at large.
Southard’s book is commendable for its focus on the often overlooked city of Nagasaki. Ultimately hopeful, it allows readers to draw their own conclusions about the morality of nuclear weapons while celebrating five people who spent their lives fighting for their elimination.
Juliana Gallo
Concord Public Library
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