Of all the books borne of Australia's fascination with Kokoda, Paul Ham's Kokoda stood out for its fastidious research and impartial presentation of the facts of the Kokoda campaign. Now his new book, Hiroshima Nagasaki promises to do the same for one of the most divisive events in human history - the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the last days of the Second World War.
Ham challenges the widespread view that the nuclear option was the Allies' "least abhorrent choice". He examines the context of the decision to employ nuclear weapons, and argues that their use was not simply a desperate last resort to finally put an end to the Japanese threat. Instead, it was the terrible but logical culmination of an Allied carpet bombing campaign that had been escalating since 1940, and which had already claimed the lives of tens of thousands of German and Japanese civilians.
Today, Australia struggles to negotiate the complex ethical landscape of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, where the lines between civilian and combatant shift and change. In this climate, an in-depth historical analysis like Hiroshima Nagasaki can be an invaluable in assessing our role in current conflicts. So come to Boffins on Thursday 10th November, meet Paul Ham, pick up a copy of Hiroshima Nagasaki and decide for yourself.
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