Thank God for the Atom Bomb

Rating:
Summary: Worth it for the war pieces alone
Review: Paul Fussell fought during World War II in the European and Pacific theaters. Even though so badly wounded in Europe he was judged 40% disabled, he still ended up fighting the Japanese. These, his war pieces, are the best in the book. The title of the book is based on the belief that the Japanese were never going to surrender, and invasion of Japan was the only option to win the war. Since Allied casualties were estimated to be a million, when the two bombs were dropped, soldiers cheered. The only reason the
Japanese then gave up, Fussell writes, is because they considered the bombs something almost supernatural. There are many other pieces in the book, none of them as interesting as
the war memoirs. All are good; some range from the quality of
George Orwell as a critic and writer to thoughts on guns to
auto racing. Fussell is a fine writer and a thoughtful man. This book makes that clear.