Product Description

Drawing on the voices of atomic-bomb survivors and the new science of forensic archaeology, Charles Pellegrino describes the events and aftermath of two days in August when nuclear devices detonated over Japan changed life on Earth forever Last Train from Hiroshima offers readers a stunning "you are there" time capsule, gracefully wrapped in elegant prose. Charles Pellegrino’s scientific authority and close relationship with the A-bomb’s survivors make his account the most gripping and authoritative ever written. At the narrative’s core are eyewitness accounts of those who experienced the atomic explosions firsthand—the Japanese civilians on the ground and the American flyers in the air. Thirty people are known to have fled Hiroshima for Nagasaki—where they arrived just in time to survive the second bomb. One of them, Tsutomu Yamaguchi, is the only person who experienced the full effects of the cataclysm at ground zero both times. The second time, the blast effects were diverted around the stairwell in which Yamaguchi had been standing, placing him and a few others in a shock coccoon that offered protection, while the entire building disappeared around them. Pellegrino weaves spellbinding stories together within an illustrated narrative that challenges the "official report," showing exactly what happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki—and why.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #778206 in Books
• Published on: 2010-01-19
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 384 pages

About the Author

Charles Pellegrino is co-author of the bestseller The Jesus Family Tomb. He is the author of nineteen books, including Her Name, Titanic, and Ghosts of the Titanic, which James Cameron used as major sources for his blockbuster movie Titanic and the Imax film Ghosts of the Abyss. Pellegrino has a PhD in zoology and has contributed to many popular magazines, including Science and Smithsonian. He lives in New York City.