FALLOUT
Simon & Schuster
New York Times bestselling author and historian Lesley Blume reveals how a courageous American reporter uncovered one of the deadliest government cover-ups of the 20th century: the true effects of the atom bomb.
•Selected as one of the New York Times’s 100 Notable Books of 2020•
•A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice•
•Selected as one of Vanity Fair’s Best Books of 2020•
•A Publishers Weekly Best Nonfiction Book of 2020•
•A Town & Country Best Book of 2020•
•Winner of the 2021 Sperber Prize•
“FALLOUT is gripping history. A big, important story; deeply researched and well told.”
“Lesley Blume brings a reportorial mastery worthy of her subject, compellingly told on every page. Here, finally discovered, is the dramatic story of how John Hersey produced what is widely regarded as the greatest piece of American journalism of the 20th century.”
“Blume [is] a tireless researcher and beautiful writer, who moves through her narrative with seeming effortlessness — a trick that belies the skill and hard labor required to produce such prose ... FALLOUT is a warning without being a polemic ... a book of serious intent that is nonetheless pleasant to read. There are knowable reasons for this, including Blume’s flawless paragraphs; her clear narrative structure; her compelling stories, subplots, and insights.”
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Just after the United States demolished Hiroshima and Nagasaki with nuclear bombs in August, 1945, the Japanese surrendered unconditionally. But even before the surrender, the US government and military had begun a secret propaganda and information suppression campaign to hide the devastating nature of these experimental weapons. The cover-up intensified as occupation forces closed the atomic cities to Allied reporters, preventing leaks about the horrific and lasting effects of radiation which would kill thousands of blast survivors during the months after the bombings. For nearly a year the cover-up worked—until New Yorker journalist John Hersey got into Hiroshima and managed to report the truth to the world.
As Hersey and his editors prepared his article for publication, they kept the whistleblowing story secret—even from most of their New Yorker colleagues. When the magazine published “Hiroshima” in August, 1946, it became an instant global sensation, and inspired pervasive horror about the hellish new threat that America had unleashed. Since 1945, no nuclear weapons have been deployed in war in part because Hersey alerted the world to their true, devastating impact. This knowledge has remained among the greatest deterrents to using them since the end of World War II.
Released on the 75th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing, FALLOUT is an engrossing detective story, as well as an important piece of hidden history that shows how one heroic scoop saved—and can still save—the world.
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Read excerpts in TOWN & COUNTRY and AMERICAN HERITAGE
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LAUNCH EVENTS AND PRESENTATIONS:
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
The New York Public Library
The Chicago Council on Global Affairs
The Brooklyn Historical Society
LAUNCH EVENTS AND PRESENTATIONS:
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
The New York Public Library
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More reviews of FALLOUT
“In FALLOUT, Lesley Blume brilliantly tells the story of how John Hersey made his epic book ‘Hiroshima,’ which had a profound effect on the way people came to regard atomic warfare. But the memory of his book has grown dim, and FALLOUT serves as an essential reminder of the lessons we once learned from Hersey’s reporting.”
- William J. Perry, 19th U.S. Secretary of Defense
“In documenting how John Hersey pulled off one of the greatest journalistic feats in history, Blume has herself pulled off a great feat. FALLOUT is a fast-paced, deeply reported revelation.”
- Gay Talese
“For months after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Americans were told little about the devastating effects on survivors. Blume’s magisterial account of how John Hersey broke the story in the New Yorker is also a warning about the ever-present dangers of nuclear war.”
- The New York Times Book Review (Editor’s Choice)
“At a time when our world-destroying arsenal of nuclear weapons seems to have been all but forgotten, Lesley Blume’s eloquent rediscovery of the story behind John Hersey’s startling 1946 narrative ‘Hiroshima’ reminds us again of the vast human disaster even a small, primitive atomic bomb can visit upon the world.”
- Richard Rhodes, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Making of the Atomic Bomb
“A searing testament to the power of journalism, truth-telling, and a story to help us remember our shared humanity … an urgent read.”
- Sarah Sentilles, author, Draw Your Weapons
"Gripping ... Blume’s meticulously researched tale of the lengths to which a government will go to keep the truth from reaching its citizens might be exactly what everyone should be reading at this deeply worrisome juncture."
- The Washington Post
“This enthralling, fine-grained chronicle reveals what it takes to cut through ‘dangerously anesthetizing’ statistics and speak truth to power.”
- Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
“Journalism at its finest … Blume’s tight, fast-moving book, pegged to the 75th anniversary of the bombing, tells Hersey’s story as he raced to gather sources, wrote in absolute secrecy, and then published a deeply empathetic, almost unbelievably distressing article.”
- Bloomberg
“FALLOUT gives powerful insights into the way that a government can weave a story to justify the actions it takes, and also into the fearless reporting about what really happened in Hiroshima. Blume’s tireless reporting gives important context to an understudied slice of U.S. history.”
- Christian Science Monitor
“Blume uncovers the fascinating backstory to perhaps the most influential piece ever published by an American magazine: John Hersey’s 1946 report on the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. A work of historical excavation … [her] narrative never flags in its drama.”
- Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)
“Totally riveting … It turns out that a lot of the issues that journalists are struggling with now, in terms of slowing down, telling a big story, telling a story of tragedy that resonates with people, was just as hard then as it is now. Hersey cracked the code a bit, and understanding how he did that is really helpful for us moving forward [in the time of COVID]. I really loved this book."
-Kyle Pope, editor and publisher, Columbia Journalism Review
“[A] cliff-hanging saga of an intrepid young newsman outplaying his own government to get the facts.”
- The Wall Street Journal
“This account of the cover-up, including the US denial of the bomb’s radioactive aftermath, and the Trojan-horse tactics Hersey employed to slip under the censorship radar, is as riveting as it is disturbing.”
- The Sydney Morning Herald
“FALLOUT reveals the inside story of one of history’s most astonishing journalistic scoops, the cynical government cover-up it circumvented, and the extraordinary effort it took to bring the terrible costs of the atomic age to light.”
- Adam Higginbotham, author, Midnight in Chernobyl
“John Hersey’s ‘Hiroshima’ has been a legend of American journalism since its first appearance in The New Yorker, and the story it tells, and how that story got told, was one we thought we knew. Now Lesley Blume shows us how little we really knew about Hersey and ‘Hiroshima’ both – and gives us a new and truly heroic story of censorship defied, taboos broken, truth sought, and editor and author committed together to serious purpose. This extraordinary book can help restore the morale of American journalism at a time when it badly needs it.”
- Adam Gopnik, author, A Thousand Small Sanities
“A brilliantly conceived and impeccably researched book … FALLOUT should sit next to [Hersey’s Hiroshima] on the shelf as a testament of the courage of a free press to report the truth no matter who attempts to silence their mission.”
- New York Journal of Books
“[A] brilliant book … [FALLOUT] tells the incredible story of how New Yorker journalist John Hersey of Hiroshima fame was able to go to the Japanese city in the aftermath of the bombing and interview six survivors … the book powerfully shows how one courageous American reporter unraveled one of the deadliest cover-ups of the 20th century—the true effects of the atomic bomb.”
- Sara Z. Kutchesfahani, The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
“A must-read … recommended by our very own President and COO Joan Rohlfing, this book describes our government’s attempt to conceal the true scope of nuclear devastation in Japan in 1945 and that ultimately resulted in one of the most famous nuclear exposés of all time: John Hersey’s Hiroshima.”
-Nuclear Threat Initiative
“[FALLOUT is] engagingly told and painstakingly researched, with an unerring eye for the vivid detail that brings to life postwar society and the stakes of making the world understand the true horror of nuclear fallout. Blume's history will remind readers of the vital role the fourth estate plays in upholding American ideals."
- Booklist
“Meticulously researched and elegantly written … [FALLOUT is] an important reminder that the biggest stories may be hiding in plain sight; that breaking news coverage is essential but may not convey the full magnitude of an event; and that a writer may be far better served by laying out a detailed, chronological account in spartan prose, even when the story is so horrific it seems to demand a polemic.”
- The Nation
“[FALLOUT] is an amazing testimony to the courage of [John] Hersey and a stark reminder that anti-proliferation efforts remain necessary.”
- Octavian Report
“FALLOUT is particularly relevant now that the U.S. and Russia are moving away from agreements that restrained them from starting a new nuclear arms race. It is a reminder not to ignore the suffering and total destruction a nuclear war can unleash.”
- The Seattle Times
“[FALLOUT] captures the beginning of the Atomic Age and shows us how unprepared the world was for it. It also reminds us that even democratically elected governments are inclined to secrecy, and that this inclination rarely benefits the people they serve … it is a book that deserves a wide readership.”
- The Oregonian
“FALLOUT is an all-too-vivid and [an] all-too-accurate account of how New Yorker journalist John Hersey's essay, ‘Hiroshima,’ was created … Blume’s work, like Hersey’s, is a testament to the power of fine journalism. She brilliantly recreates his fragile position as the ultimate whistleblower, as well as his earth-shaking reporting.”
- Bookreporter.com
“A lucid and powerful story of a reporter who broke one of the biggest stories of the twentieth century and returned a sense of humanity to the idea of warfare … one of my favorite books this year.”
- Jess Walter, author, The Cold Millions
“Lesley M.M. Blume skillfully reconstructs the hidden history of one of the greatest cover-ups in modern history … [a] thrilling account.”
- Town & Country
“Blume’s literary style is a seamless combination of exceptional journalism, meticulous historical investigation and superb storytelling. Her prose is accessible to both professionals as well as the general public - a feat not often achieved by author with similar credentials … if you thought you knew everything there is to know about the dawn of the nuclear era, think again. Unless you read FALLOUT, your education on the subject will remain woefully inadequate. Moreover, if you want to know how your government works - then and now - you need to rush to your local bookstore and pick up a copy of this one. Highly, highly recommended.”
- Bowling Green Daily News
“A clearly written, insightful, and absorbing account of John Hersey … who worked out how to describe the overarching destruction and horror of nuclear war.”
- Newtown Review of Books (Sydney)
“FALLOUT is straightforward, tightly structured, and thoroughly researched ... The prose is jam-packed and doesn’t pull punches, maximizing impact by presenting the contrast between government-endorsed propaganda and Hersey’s survivors’ harsh realities. Even while summarizing familiar events, Blume avoids redundancy, seamlessly blending well-known elements with information gleaned through her own extensive research endeavors. Despite the age of the story, it feels timely and fresh, and Blume’s attention to detail and talent for distilling a wealth of information make for a rich, gripping read … A compelling, unsettling success, [FALLOUT], which doubles as a history lesson and a dire warning, provides her readers with a timely and necessary reminder that will stick with them long after finishing the book.”
- World Literature Today
“An engrossing page-turner … Blume masterfully pieces together what has been deleted, ignored, distorted, and censored by those in positions of power, with regard to dropping the atomic bomb on Japanese civilians. The magnificent scope of Blume’s inquiry includes interviews that gave her access to heretofore unpublished manuscripts, as well as research in multilingual archives and the John Hersey Papers at Yale University’s Beinecke Library. While historical in nature, this work’s contemporary relevance is clear. Highly recommended.”
- Choice Connect, The American Library Association
“An absorbing new book … If the mainstream media ever regains the public’s trust, it will be because of journalists like Hersey who genuinely seek the truth wherever it is to be found, and institutions run by editors who, like Harold Ross, aim to ‘present the truth and the whole truth without fear.’”
-UnHerd