Hiroshima
Score Classic
What it's about
John Hersey follows six people, a clerk, a widowed seamstress, a physician, a Methodist minister, a young surgeon and a German Catholic priest, from 8:15 a.m. on August 6, 1945, when the first atomic bomb destroyed Hiroshima, through the hours and days that followed. The New Yorker devoted an entire issue to it in 1946.
Why it's worth reading
It's on TIME's list of the 100 best nonfiction books and the Guardian's 100 best nonfiction books of all time. It showed the world what the bomb meant for human beings.
You'll love it if you liked
The Making of the Atomic Bomb, American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer or If This Is a Man
Good to know
It's short and plainly written, readable in an afternoon. Later editions include a chapter on the survivors forty years later.
Quick answers
Is Hiroshima worth reading?
Yes. It's on TIME's list of the 100 best nonfiction books and the Guardian's 100 best nonfiction books of all time. It ranks #450 of the 2,819 books in our ranking, with a Must-Read Score of 79.1 (the best book we found scores 99).
What is Hiroshima about?
John Hersey follows six people, a clerk, a widowed seamstress, a physician, a Methodist minister, a young surgeon and a German Catholic priest, from 8:15 a.m. on August 6, 1945, when the first atomic bomb destroyed Hiroshima, through the hours and days that followed. The New Yorker devoted an entire issue to it in 1946.
How long does it take to read Hiroshima?
About 4 hours (152 pages), or about 8 days at 30 minutes a day.
What should I read after Hiroshima?
If you liked it, try The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes, American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin or If This Is a Man by Primo Levi.
By the numbers
- Readers64 out of 100 · counts 42%
- Critics80 out of 100 · counts 34% (its stronger lane)
- Bestseller24 out of 100 · counts 14%
- Buzz0 out of 100 · counts 10%
Critics and Bestseller are two ways to earn a place: a book's stronger one counts more. Buzz rewards recent bestseller weeks and prizes, so older books start at zero. The parts combine into the Must-Read Score, shown on a scale where the best book we found scores 99 and the last book to make the ranking scores 50.
On 2 canon lists, including TIME All-TIME 100 Nonfiction.
Where it ranks
- #82 of the 198 history books we rank
- #144 of the 763 classics we rank
- #450 of the 2,819 books we rank
On the lists
- TIME All-TIME 100 Nonfiction
- Guardian 100 Best Nonfiction Books of All Time
Reads as
True story
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Cosmos