Countdown to Hiroshima: X Minus 11 Days

Every year at this time, as I noted in this space yesterday, I return to a subject I have covered--in dozens of articles and two books (see the rail at left)--since the mid-1980s: the use of two atomic bombs against Japan in 1945. Last year at The Nation, I wrote daily "Countdown to Hiroshima" pieces, revealing what happened on that day in 1945, a unique way to probe how the decision to use the bomb might have been handled differently. Here's my article from last year on July 26, 1945, when two momentous events occur: an order to use The Bomb, and the release of the Potsdam Declaration demanding Japan's surrender.