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Countdown 1945: The Extraordinary Story of the Atomic Bomb and the 116 Days That Changed the World (In-person)

by Chris Wallace with Mitch Weiss.

Saturday, July 9, approximately 12:30 – 2:00pm
Countdown 1945 tells the gripping true story of the turbulent days, weeks, and months leading up to August 6, 1945, when President Harry S Truman gives the order to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. From Truman’s shock of learning of the bomb’s existence, to wrestling with the devastating carnage that will result if he gives the order to use America’s first weapon of mass destruction, veteran journalist Chris Wallace tells the story of an untested new president confronting a decision that he knows will change the world forever. Reading like an intense thriller, readers are given a behind-the-scenes account of the exchanges between President Truman and Generals Dwight D. Eisenhower and George Marshall―generals who offer the president conflicting advice. Readers are given a glimpse inside the minds of other individuals of the day: bombardier pilots selected to carry out the president’s order, American soldiers fighting in the Pacific, and iconic scientists Albert Einstein and J. Robert Oppenheimer, who worked on development of the secret project. There are also personal accounts of ordinary American and Japanese civilians living at the time. Told with vigor, intelligence, and humanity, Countdown 1945 is the definitive account of one of the most significant moments in history. Discussion led by Steve Levin.