Ep 137: Richard Frank on Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and World War II’s Endgame
Richard Frank, historian and author of Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire and Tower of Skulls: A History of the Asia-Pacific War: July 1937-May 1942, joins the show to talk about the controversial legacy of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
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Show Notes
Richard Frank, historian and author of Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire and Tower of Skulls: A History of the Asia-Pacific War: July 1937-May 1942, joins the show to talk about the controversial legacy of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
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Times
• 02:05 Introduction
• 02:15 Soldier/Lawyer/Historian
• 09:19 Early controversy
• 14:55 Counting all the dead
• 21:54 Contemplating invasion
• 30:10 1:1 ratio, recipe for a bloodbath
• 38:03 Why unconditional surrender?
• 40:48 Two steps to end the war
• 46:54 A combination of forces
• 51:08 How many bombs?
• 54:01 Thinking as your enemy does
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Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack