"Analysis of Hiroshima" by John Hersey - Written for AP U.S. History

This book was written like a book report, having no emotion or any sense of empathy, which overall makes it difficult to read. Using the stories of six characters who survived the initial explosion, John Hersey creates an abbreviated account of the bombing using themes of survival, total warfare, and gruesome images. I found Hersey's account of the bombing hard to read for a few reasons, such as how the six stories are not all …

…the effects of atomic warfare. In conclusion, Hersey did give a historical account that brought forth the perspectives of those that America bombed. This one event destroyed people's homes and ruined the lived of those not killed initially. Also, the added chapter about the character's lives 40 years later was interesting. Hersey had the opportunity and potential to make an incredible novel of this atrocity of war, but instead told a story that is rather "spotty."