
Hiroshima
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Narrated by:
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George Guidall
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By:
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John Hersey
About this listen
A journalistic masterpiece. John Hersey transports us back to the streets of Hiroshima, Japan on August 6, 1945 - the day the city was destroyed by the first atomic bomb. Told through the memories of six survivors, Hiroshima is a timeless, powerful classic that will awaken your heart and your compassion. In this new edition, Hersey returns to Hiroshima to find the survivors - and to tell their fates in an eloquent and moving final chapter.
©1985 John Hersey (P)2000 Recorded Books, LLCListeners also enjoyed...
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What listeners say about Hiroshima
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- Lady Pamela
- 07-16-16
Reread
Reread this classic; shows human effects of 1945 nuclear event. Seen through the eyes of several survivors, it leaves to the imagination many questions. First published in 1946, this edition includes a 1989 update. As a high school student, I remember "analyzing" this book--without a lifetime's experience, that made no sense. Now, it does.
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- S Andrew Renner
- 01-05-25
Mankind Must Never Forget This Event
The Book Was Well Written And Researched. I Was Familiar With The Event Itself And Hearing These Surviving Individuals Stories Really Brought Home
How Horrible War Really Is. A Very Worthwhile Read.
S. A. Renner
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- Kelly
- 06-19-16
Insightful, but Apolitical; Edifying, Not Preachy.
I have never read Hersey's classic and after listening to the entire thing in one sitting I am baffled as to how I overlooked it. The book is phenomenal. It tells the story in a simple, fluid and seamless way. Hersey wrote with compassion and understanding without any hint of being a traitor to his home country which could not have been an easy line to cross in 1946. Today's world is so politically divisive and nobody escapes it -- journalists almost always show their colors in their writing and are deemed too liberal or too conservative. In the time that Hersey wrote this journalistic piece showing any empathy toward the Japanese was considered wrong and he could easily have been treated as a traitor. I am so impressed with his ability to show the right level of respect and warmth for the victims of the bomb and to do all of it without coming out of it sounding preachy.
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8 people found this helpful
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- Deborah
- 08-18-16
Never Again
Learned so much from this book. It made me realize how destructive nuclear power is. I pray to God that we never drop another bomb anywhere in the world. There is a book about Nagasaki that is just as important to read. Never again.
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- Victoria Joubert
- 06-07-15
Moving story
Excellent account of what happened the day the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. The narrator was perfect.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Lewis Freifeld
- 05-03-15
Great insight into this event!
I am a history person and was looking forward to getting a deeper insight into this historic occurrence. In addition, on a recent cruise, visited Hiroshima and it became a life changing event for me personally! Too repetitive and didn't spend enough time regarding the American's involvement after the bombing!
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1 person found this helpful
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- Dennis
- 07-15-17
Great Story About A Sad Time IN History
Several months ago I visited Hiroshima and the site of the bomb blast. Very moving and along with Pearl Harbor, no better place to reflect upon the horrors of war. Hersey's book brings to life that horrific time in our history and the impact on the Japanese who died and those lived through it. It puts us, the reader, at the very moment of the blast and the sad aftermath. You will be moved by reading or listening to this classic book.
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- Debbie W. Rayl
- 03-28-17
Great story
What did you love best about Hiroshima?
Wonderful history of Japan during this time. It's hard to find understandable histories of Japanese culture, most are very dry. This is a very good story. I have recommended it to several friends.
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- Alisha Lorentz
- 04-03-15
Really Great Book about a Really Awful Subject.
If you could sum up Hiroshima in three words, what would they be?
Terrifying, Captivating, Powerful
What was one of the most memorable moments of Hiroshima?
I was captivated by the personal details of the stories like what they were eating, wearing, and thinking when the blast happened. It was a very intimate look into the lives of these survivors.
Have you listened to any of George Guidall’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
I have not, but I think I will in the future.
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- David M. Jacobs
- 05-01-18
Breathing , human perspective of the suffering of the people of Hiroshima Japan a history lesson for all humanity.
The book isn't dramatic, it it told from the point of view of the people who loved it. The pace of the book is informative and descriptive, I had to take a weeks break after the description of the victims of radiation poisining. What to say about a book that stole the worlds from my mouth. I went to Hiroshima, and I saw the the cenotaph. The book places you on the human side of the atom bomb. The feelings the humanity , the society that was altered on a genetic level. The book was informative and heartbreaking. It helped my understanding of the Japanese culture.
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