5th Edition
Probably no presidential decision in U.S. history has generated more lasting controversy and second-guessing than President Harry Truman's decision to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Although half a century has passed since August 1945, the subject continues to spark heated debate in both the classroom and the larger public arena. In many respects, the debate has taken on a life of its own, often divorced from the historical context of World War II and transcending the difficult choices that offer guidance for U.S. foreign policy today.

Ending the War Against Japan: Science, Morality, and the Atomic Bomb seeks to go beyond the well-worn question, "Should the atomic bomb have been dropped on Japan?" Rather, the unit allows students to examine primary source materials and background information available to U.S. decision-makers in mid-1945 to reconstruct both the scientific odyssey which produced the bomb and the debate within the Truman administration on whether the bomb should have been used against Japan and how.