Countdown 1945

The Extraordinary Story of the Atomic Bomb and the 116 Days That Changed the World

Chris Wallace, Mitch Weiss

• Publisher: Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN:
  9781982143350
• eBook ISBN:
  9781982143367
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Japanese History
• Index: History

The #1 national bestselling “riveting” (The New York Times), “propulsive” (Time) behind-the-scenes account “that reads like a tense thriller” (The Washington Post) of the 116 days leading up to the American attack on Hiroshima, by Chris Wallace, veteran journalist and CNN anchor and Max host.

April 12, 1945: After years of bloody conflict in Europe and the Pacific, America is stunned by news of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s death. In an instant, Vice President Harry Truman, who has been kept out of war planning and knows nothing of the top-secret Manhattan Project to develop the world’s first atomic bomb, must assume command of a nation at war on multiple continents—and confront one of the most consequential decisions in history. Countdown 1945 tells the gripping true story of the turbulent days, weeks, and months to follow, leading up to August 6, 1945, when Truman gives the order to drop the bomb on Hiroshima.

In Countdown 1945, Chris Wallace, the veteran journalist and CNN anchor and Max host, takes readers inside the minds of the iconic and elusive figures who join the quest for the bomb, each for different reasons: the legendary Albert Einstein, who eventually calls his vocal support for the atomic bomb “the one great mistake in my life”; lead researcher J. Robert “Oppie” Oppenheimer and the Soviet spies who secretly infiltrate his team; the fiercely competitive pilots of the plane selected to drop the bomb; and many more.

Perhaps most of all, Countdown 1945 is the story of an untested new president confronting a decision that he knows will change the world forever. But more than a book about the atomic bomb, Countdown 1945 is also an unforgettable account of the lives of ordinary American and Japanese civilians in wartime—from “Calutron Girls” like Ruth Sisson in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, to ten-year-old Hiroshima resident Hideko Tamura, who survives the blast at ground zero but loses her mother and later immigrates to the United States, where she lives to this day—as well as American soldiers fighting in the Pacific, waiting in fear for the order to launch a possible invasion of Japan. Told with vigor, intelligence, and humanity, Countdown 1945 is the definitive account of one of the most significant moments in history.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Chapter 1. Countdown: 116 Days
• Chapter 2. Countdown: 113 Days
• Chapter 3. Countdown: 105 Days
• Chapter 4. Countdown: 104 Days
• Chapter 5. Countdown: 103 Days
• Chapter 6. Countdown: 90 Days
• Chapter 7. Countdown: 70 Days
• Chapter 8. Countdown: 68 Days
• Chapter 9. Countdown: 66 Days
• Chapter 10. Countdown: 53 Days
• Chapter 11. Countdown: 49 Days
• Chapter 12. Countdown: 36 Days
• Chapter 13. Countdown: 35 Days
• Chapter 14. Countdown: 34 Days
• Chapter 15. Countdown: 21 Days
• Chapter 16. Countdown: 20 Days
• Chapter 17. Countdown: 19 Days
• Chapter 18. Countdown: 18 Days
• Chapter 19. Countdown: 17 Days
• Chapter 20. Countdown: 16 Days
• Chapter 21. Countdown: 13 Days
• Chapter 22. Countdown: 12 Days
• Chapter 23. Countdown: 11 Days
• Chapter 24. Countdown: 8 Days
• Chapter 25. Countdown: 6 Days
• Chapter 26. Countdown: 5 Days
• Chapter 27. Countdown: 4 Days
• Chapter 28. Countdown: 3 Days
• Chapter 29. Countdown: 2 Days
• Chapter 30. Countdown: 1 Day
• Chapter 31. Countdown: 9 Hours, 15 Minutes
• Chapter 32. Countdown: Firestorm
• Epilogue
• Postscript
• Acknowledgments
• ‘Countdown bin Laden’ Teaser
• About the Authors
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index
• Image Credits
• Copyright