Chris Wallace (1) (1947–)

In "Countdown: 1945," Chris Wallace and Mitch Weiss, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist, provide a chronological account of the events leading up to the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. For history buffs, there is little new here. However, the authors broaden the book's scope with intriguing anecdotes about the men and women who contributed to the Manhattan Project, a massive undertaking that was "costly, chancy, and cloaked in total secrecy." We learn about the opinions and actions of President Harry Truman; J. Robert Oppenheimer and other top scientists; General Leslie Groves; the flight crews that worked with Colonel Paul Tibbets, who flew the plane from which the first nuclear bomb was dropped; Ruth Sisson, an employee who operated "a machine she didn't understand" at Oak Ridge, and worried about her fiancée, a soldier stationed overseas; and a ten-year-old Japanese child, Hideko Tamura, who miraculously survived the blast at Hiroshima.

The prose style is clear and fast-paced. Wallace and Weiss describe Truman's sudden ascendancy from FDR's overshadowed vice-president to a commander-in-chief in wartime. Eleanor Roosevelt wasn't kidding when, after her husband's death, she told Truman, "You are the one in trouble now." FDR was a tough act to follow, and Truman set out to prove that he could be a measured, resolute, and effective leader. He knew nothing about the Manhattan Project until his secretary of war, Henry Stimson, revealed that the Americans were surreptitiously creating "a new explosive of almost unbelievable destructive power." Truman was stunned. He is quoted as saying, "It was a day…when the world fell in on me."

The countdown begins on April 15, 1945, and it ends with Japan's surrender, an epilogue, and a postscript. In a straightforward reportorial style, Wallace and Weiss move back and forth frequently between characters, which can be distracting. However, they keep things lively with colorful tidbits about the individuals' personal lives and perspectives, an overview of the nuclear age and the Cold War, and snapshots of what happened to key figures in later life. "Countdown" is a clearly written and well-researched refresher course about a pivotal time in world history. It raises familiar questions about the moral conundrum that Truman faced: Should American forces invade Japan, which would mean the loss of many lives on both sides, or should Truman attempt to end the conflict quickly by ordering the annihilation of thousands of men, women, and children—most of them civilians—and exposing the survivors to potentially deadly doses radiation? It was a wrenching decision that is still debated today.… (more)

This was the 2nd Chris Wallace book I've read recently. The other Countdown book I read was Countdown to 1945 & the atomic bomb creation. I've always been fascinated with the bin ladin story since it happened in May 2011, and this book definitely put a nice timeline and there were many details I havent heard before reading this. I still give it 5 stars but my only problem with it is some parts are just over the top corny. And I get it, that's kinda how I imagine Chris Wallace to be because I'm a big fan of him as a journalist. But there were a couple times where the added drama didn't even need to be there considering how dramatic this story is. Great Job. Highly recommend.… (more)

This was the 2nd Chris Wallace book I've read recently. The other Countdown book I read was Countdown to 1945 & the atomic bomb creation. I've always been fascinated with the bin ladin story since it happened in May 2011, and this book definitely put a nice timeline and there were many details I havent heard before reading this. I still give it 5 stars but my only problem with it is some parts are just over the top corny. And I get it, that's kinda how I imagine Chris Wallace to be because I'm a big fan of him as a journalist. But there were a couple times where the added drama didn't even need to be there considering how dramatic this story is. Great Job. Highly recommend.… (more)