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 History
of World War II: Hiroshima
2005 World history's first - and, to date, only - nuclear weapon attacks were the atomic devices the United States exploded over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945. Frustrated by the intransigence of Japanese leadership and desperate to use any and all possible means to forestall a costly invasion of Japan's home islands, American president Harry Truman authorized the bombings.
The attacks killed outright, perhaps 100,000 Japanese in Hiroshima and about another 50,000 at Nagasaki. Thousands more have since died from the lingering effects of the bombs' deadly radiation. Initially widely celebrated in Allied countries for helping bring history's most destructive war to a close, the attacks began to receive criticism almost as soon as the disturbing images of the bombs' Japanese victims were widely circulated.
At the 50th anniversary of the bombings in 1995, the smoldering
controversy flamed into a nation-wide, very public debate in the US focused on plans by the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC to display an exhibit that many veterans and others who staunchly support the bombings considered one-sided and unfair.
Such criticism, however, cannot be leveled at Hiroshima, BBC Video's outstanding new addition to its highly-acclaimed
documentary series, without doubt, Hiroshima is the most fair and balanced comprehensive presentation yet produced of what has become one of history's most controversial events.
It is also a dynamic example of the inherent power of film media to inform and enlighten in an interesting and absorbing manner. All of the latest and most effective techniques in documentary film production - historical participant interviews, docu-drama recreation, archival film footage and state-of-the-art computer graphics
combine skill and vision into a riveting film that captures viewers' attention from the first frame and firmly holds it until the end. One might be tempted to call it "entertaining" due to the visual appeal of its colorful and expertly done, but the film's grim subject matter makes that term highly
inappropriate
(Click on title to buy)
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