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Summary: A fasinating account on the B-29 and the bomb
Review: This story held extra meaning for me because Major General Sweeney was born and raised in my home town of Quincy, Massachusetts. I was born in 1961; Hiroshima occurred on my Dad's 15th birthday, Nagasaki three days later. I am grateful - as I'm sure my father was - to Sweeney and his heroic counterparts for the sacrifices they made to bring the war in the Pacific to a conclusion. Sweeney states his case firmly and directly - without the bomb, Japan was willing to fight to the end; troop mortality estimates for a planned invasion of Japan were astronomical. Sweeney's actions saved the lives of countless of today's fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers (in America and Japan). This book will make you appreciate the seminal role played by General Paul Tibbets, whom Sweeney salutes in the Acknowledgements as "one of our military's great leaders and the finest pilot I have ever met." Considering the often stifling nature of military bureacracy, watching Tibbets operate inside military jurisdiction while essentially doing an end-run to accomplish his goals is amazing. Note that this is not a complete atomic history, but more of a tale of the author's rise from wannabe pilot to commander of the Bock's Car in less than five years. [Dan Rather said it best in his review of War's End: "...written with such detail, sweep, and compassion that it might have been a novel and not an autobiography."] As a result, don't read this looking for revelations about Los Alamos, Oppenheimer, etc. The only connection you get there is that Tibbets actions during this whole lead-up period to Hiroshima are somewhat of a mystery to Sweeney, so you understand there's a whole lot going on in the background that Sweeney is not privy to. To fill in some of the gaps, I recommend "Target Hiroshima" concerning Deak Parsons, America's 'Atomic Admiral' [Parsons makes an appearance in War's End as a key link to all prior land tests; he also armed the bomb on the Enola Gay.] Also, Paul Tibbets has a rememberance entitled "Mission: Hiroshima".
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