"Writings on the denial of history and the Smithsonian controversy"--Cover.

A critical introduction to how the Nagasaki atomic bombing has been remembered, especially in contrast to that of Hiroshima. In the decades following the atomic bombing of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, the city’s residents processed their trauma and formed narratives of the destruction and reconstruction in ways that reflected their regional history and social makeup. In doing so, they created a multi-layered urban identity as an atomic-bombed city that differed markedly from Hiroshima’s image. Shadows of Nagasaki traces how Nagasaki’s trauma, history, and memory of the bombing manifested through some of the city’s many post-atomic memoryscapes, such as literature, religious discourse, art, historical landmarks, commemorative spaces, and architecture. In addition, the book pays particular attention to how the city’s history of international culture, exemplified best perhaps by the region’s Christian (especially Catholic) past, informed its response to the atomic trauma and shaped its postwar urban identity. Key historical actors in the volume’s chapters include writers, Japanese- Catholic leaders, atomic-bombing survivors (known as hibakusha), municipal officials, American occupation personnel, peace activists, artists, and architects. The story of how these diverse groups of people processed and participated in the discourse surrounding the legacies of Nagasaki’s bombing shows how regional history, culture, and politics—rather than national ones—become the most influential factors shaping narratives of destruction and reconstruction after mass trauma. In turn, and especially in the case of urban destruction, new identities emerge and old ones are rekindled, not to serve national politics or social interests but to bolster narratives that reflect local circumstances.

A ferociously visionary novel forged from the nuclear ashes of WW2 explodes into the 21st century, forewarning the modern global community of imminent atomic apocalypse, as karmic-bound demons of the past return to life and demand their "pound of flesh." Of the forty-five thousand souls instantly evaporated by the atomic bomb that devastated Nagasaki and ended WWII, five became immortalized as shadow victims ... their very DNA melted into concrete and steel. What if those shadows started to move? American nuclear science and Japanese shamanism join forces against radioactive terrors of their own creation. Set in Los Alamos, the birthplace of the atomic bomb. Shadow's timeline is set two weeks prior to the 75th anniversary of the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb on August 9, 2020.

In its diversity of perspectives, The Unfinished Atomic Bomb: Shadows and Reflections is testament to the ways in which contemplations of the A-bomb are endlessly shifting, rarely fixed on the same point or perspective. The compilation of this book is significant in this regard, offering Japanese, American, Australian, and European perspectives. In doing so, the essays here represent a complex series of interpretations of the bombing of Hiroshima, and its implications both for history, and for the present day. From Kuznick’s extensive biographical account of the Hiroshima bomb pilot, Paul Tibbets, and contentious questions about the moral and strategic efficacy of dropping the A-bomb and how that has resonated through time, to Jacobs’ reflections on the different ways in which Hiroshima and its memorialization are experienced today, each chapter considers how this moment in time emerges, persistently, in public and cultural consciousness. The discussions here are often difficult, sometimes controversial, and at times oppositional, reflecting the characteristics of A-bomb scholarship more broadly. The aim is to explore the various ways in which Hiroshima is remembered, but also to consider the ongoing legacy and impact of atomic warfare, the reverberations of which remain powerfully felt.

Longlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction (now Women's Prize for Fiction) Winner of the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award Nagasaki, August 9, 1945. Hiroko Tanaka watches her lover from the veranda as he leaves. Sunlight streams across Urakami Valley, and then the world goes white. In the devastating aftermath of the atomic bomb, Hiroko leaves Japan in search of new beginnings. From Delhi, amid India's cry for independence from British colonial rule, to New York City in the immediate wake of 9/11, to the novel's astonishing climax in Afghanistan, a violent history casts its shadow the entire world over. Sweeping in its scope and mesmerizing in its evocation of time and place, this is a tale of love and war, of three generations, and three world-changing historic events. Kamila Shamsie’s Burnt Shadows is an enthralling meta-cultural epic, the panoramic tale of two families tangled together in some of the most devastating conflicts of modern history.

When Charles and Iola Medd left Thailand in June of 1957 they expected to return. For two years they had lived and worked together in the northeastern city of Nakhorn Rachisma for the United States Information Agency. Two for the price of one it was in those days! Prior to their leaving Thailand USIA Bangkok told Charles they wanted the Medds to return at the conclusion of their home leave. They were to be reassigned to Chiang Mai, a lovely city in the northern part of the country. USIA Washington however had different plans for the Medds. Charles learned we had been assigned to Nagasaki, a city located on the island of Kyushu in southwestern Japan. Surprises such as this were a part of Foreign Service life and this was the life the Medds had chosen. When their leave came to an end the Medds packed their bags, and together with their 17-month old daughter and 6-weeks old son they said goodbye to their family and friends, and headed west-back across the Pacific to Japan.