Pelligrino writes about the devastation of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The first few chapters describe the pure annihilation and immediacy of the destruction, but slowly the narrative evolves to describe the physical and psychological effects of the bombings, primarily from the Japanese perspective but also from the perspective of the bombers.
Much of the book reads like a horror movie, with gory accounts of both obliteration and physical suffering of unimaginable measure. On the one hand, the endless variations on death seem almost gratuitous, yet the shock upon shock of reading these horrors underscores just how cruel and unfathomable were the effects of the bomb.
The book ends with the redemption of forgiveness, and the pledge for peace. While I feel that the point of the book could be made in a shorter narrative (taking out much of the gore), I think this book is essential reading to put war into a proper perspective.
Whether or not the bombings were justified has been fervently debated, but if innocent human life is sacred, then the answer is clarified by this book.
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