Shockwave: The Countdown to Hiroshima - Softcover

Stephen Walker

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0719566266 ISBN 13: 9780719566264

Publisher: John Murray, 2006

Synopsis

At 8.15 a.m. on 6 August 1945, Major Tom Ferebee, the ladykilling, poker-playing bombardier on board a B29 bomber flicks a switch. In the bomb bay a single shackle drops its load into the freezing air. It plummets towards a city but no commuters look up. Then the bomb explodes. The shockwave rips out from the epicentre, flattening every object in its path. Tens of thousands of people are annihilated. In that instant, the name Hiroshima is stamped on the consciousness of a world that will never be the same again.In this tense, real-life narrative of events unprecedented interviews with witnesses interweave in a tapestry of voices. They include the co-pilot who writes a minute-by-minute diary on board the Enola Gay. The atomic scientist who arms the bomb in mid-air equipped with a screwdriver and a spanner. The Japanese student desperately searching for his lover in the ruins of the city. The doctor forced to treat thousands of burnt bodies with only soy-bean oil and wet leaves. Combining a rich array of sources with brilliant storytelling, Stephen Walker grippingly charts the defining event of the 20th century, on its 60th anniversary.

About this title

About the Author:

Stephen Walker read Modern History at Oxford and went on to do a Master's degree at Harvard. He was a documentary maker for the BBC for twelve years and more recently for his own company, Walker George Films. He has also directed TV drama, written films such as Death and the Maiden with Ariel Dorfmann, worked as a journalist and written a book, King of Cannes.

Review:

'A devastating story grippingly told, Shockwave also succeeds in being a compelling portrayal of human beings at work.' -- Lloyds List 20050805 'Stephen Walker has produced a bravura performance ... the horror of what happened is almost impossible to bear' -- Focus 20050509 'Riveting' -- Soldier 20050508 'Somehow through the pages of this taut chronology the merest whisper of the enormity of it all comes through.' -- Word Magazine 20050901 'Simply riveting. You live every breathless second of it. A terrific book' -- Michael Buerk 'Remarkable. I have been waiting for this book for sixty years' -- Gitta Sereny author of Albert Speer: His Battle 'Shockwave combines racy, colorful historical detail with profound human concern in a way that does justice to its weighty theme. A remarkable storytelling achievement' -- Frederick Taylor, author of Dresden 'An utterly gripping work of micro-history. Stephen Walker proves himself to be a master of dramatic tension' -- Christopher Silvester, Sunday Express 'Walker is content to let the terrible story speak for itself ... offers a timely and harrowing reminder' -- Scotland On Sunday 20050731 'brilliant' -- Financial Times 20050806 'Well researched and it does tell you everything you want to know about Hiroshima' -- The Sunday Times 20050731 'Shockwave is a stunning book, among the most immediate and thrilling works of history I have ever read ! Walker is a filmmaker, and he brings a director's eye for pace character and colour to this book so that the reading experience is almost a visual one' -- Richard Aldous, The Irish Times 20050806 'It's an unforgettable and deeply moving portrait of one of the defining moments of the 20th century' -- Hampstead & Highgate Express 20060526 'A most gripping paperback! War story enthusiasts will be fascinated.' -- Dover Express & Folkestone Herald: Terry Sutton 20060615 'It is the human details that resonate the most...an utterly gripping work of micro-history' -- Evan Griffiths, Daily Express 20051202 'A stunning book, among the most immediate and thrilling works of history I have ever read.' -- Irish Times 20050806 'A stunning chronicle of one of the 20th-century's defining moments.' -- Good Book Guide 20050801 'An exciting narrative' -- Herald 20050806

About this edition

• Publisher: John Murray
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0719566266
• ISBN 13: 9780719566264
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 352