Imprint
- John Murray
Prose: non-fiction, Australasian & Pacific history
The countdown to Hiroshima and its horrific aftermath seen through the eyes of eyewitnesses
August 6th, 1945, 9.15 a.m. Six miles above Hiroshima, the bombardier of the Enola Gay releases an atomic bomb into the freezing skies. Seconds later, the city is obliterated in a single, monumental blast of fire. The destruction is immediate and catastrophic, as if a small sun had suddenly exploded. Tens of thousands of people are instantly annihilated. In that moment, the world will never be the same again.
Combining a rich array of interviews with gripping storytelling, Stephen Walker's Shockwave presents an extraordinary and unforgettably moving portrait of one of the defining events of the twentieth century.
Praise for Shockwave
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Simply riveting. You live every breathless second of it. A terrific book - Michael Buerk
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Remarkable. I have been waiting for this book for sixty years - Gitta Sereny author of Albert Speer
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Shockwave combines racy, colorful historical detail with profound human concern in a way that does justice to its weighty theme. A remarkable storytelling achievement - Frederick Taylor, author of Dresden
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'This is an utterly gripping work of micro-history' - Sunday Express
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Brilliant' - Financial Times
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Tells you everything you want to know about Hiroshima - The Sunday Times
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'Walker is content to let the terrible story speak for itself ... offers a timely and harrowing reminder' - Scotland On Sunday
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A stunning book, among the most immediate and thrilling works of history I have ever read - Irish Times
Stephen Walker
Stephen Walker read Modern History at Oxford and went on to do a Master's degree at Harvard. He was a documentary maker for the BBC for twelve years and more recently for his own company, Walker George Films. He has also directed TV drama, written films such as Death and the Maiden with Ariel Dorfmann, worked as a journalist and written two books, King of Cannes and SHOCKWAVE: COUNTDOWN TO HIROSHIMA.
