Does anyone know the reasons why the book Hiroshima was and is so popular?

Question

It ranks #1 here and beats out all these other books. Does anyone know why?

http://www.nyu.edu/classes/stephens/Top%20100%20page.htm

Answer 1

Hiroshima is a fantastic work for a couple of reasons.

First, it was published when many Americans didn't know, and really didn't care about the survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. For all we knew, the bombs ended the war in a big way, and it was really fortunate for us. However, we didn't really understand the bomb, which leads to the second point.

Hiroshima showed many people what a full scale nuclear war would be capable of unleashing on the world. Remember, this was during the days of "duck and cover," where they felt that hiding under desks would save them. Hiroshima really undid a lot of that silly notion, and allowed people to better understand what nuclear war really was about.

Beyond the concrete values, you really can't get past the fact that it is a fantastic piece of non fiction. You really begin to feel for the characters, realizing that they are real people. The way Hersey gives you the stories, with reflection towards the characters, their actions, and (in the newer versions of the book) what they really thought about the bombing years after. Remember, this is a defining moment in human history. And Hiroshima allows the reader to be reflective of that, while at the same time, connecting to other people, no matter where they live, or what the believe.

Answer 2

i don't know about that book but it probably is about someone who lived there when usa dropped the 1st ever nuclear bomb on hiroshima and nagasaki, china. and that's y china tends to close it gates to the western world. hope this works!

Answer 3

Here is a brief summary of the book. I guess we have certain fascination with the dropping of the first Atomic bomb. That could explain its popularity.

Al

http://www.herseyhiroshima.com/

Answer 4

I don't know anything about that Book but if it helps Last year I learned that Hiroshima was one of the Japanese Cities the US droped a Nuclear Bomb on damaging it badly I think it ended World War 2