The Last Train from Hiroshima: The Survivors Look Back
Written by Charles Pellegrino
Narrated by Arthur Morey
5/5
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Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this audiobook
"It is with deep regret that Henry Holt and Company announces that we will no longer print, correct or ship copies of Charles Pellegrino's The Last Train from Hiroshima due to the discovery of dishonest sources of information for the book. It is easy to understand how even the most diligent author could be duped by a source, but we also understand that this opens that book to very detailed scrutiny. The author of any work of non-fiction must stand behind its content. We must rely on our authors to answer questions that may arise as to the accuracy of their work and reliability of their sources. Unfortunately, Mr. Pellegrino was not able to answer the additional questions that have arisen about his book to our satisfaction."
The Last Train from Hiroshima offers listeners a stunning "you are there" time capsule, gracefully wrapped in elegant prose. Charles Pellegrino's scientific authority and close relationship with the A-bomb's survivors make his account the most gripping and authoritative ever written.
At the narrative's core are eyewitness accounts of those who experienced the atomic explosions firsthand-the Japanese civilians on the ground and the American fliers in the air. Thirty people are known to have fled Hiroshima for Nagasaki-where they arrived just in time to survive the second bomb. One of them, Tsutomu Yamaguchi, is the only person who experienced the full effects of the cataclysm at ground zero both times. The second time, the blast effects were diverted around the stairwell in which Yamaguchi had been standing, placing him and a few others in a shock cocoon that offered protection, while the entire building disappeared around them.
Pellegrino weaves spellbinding stories together within a narrative that challenges the "official report," showing exactly what happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki-and why.
Charles Pellegrino
Charles Pellegrino is the author of numerous internationally bestselling books. Her Name, Titanic sold over a million copies and was one of the nonfiction sources for James Cameron's movie Titanic. Several of Pellegrino's books have been adapted for Time Life and National Geographic specials, including Unearthing Atlantis. He has a Ph.D. in paleobiology and is one of a small number of scientists who brought forensic science methods into the field of archaeology. As a forensic archaeologist, he has worked on the Titanic, in Pompeii and its sister cities, and at New York's Ground Zero.
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Reviews for The Last Train from Hiroshima
9 ratings4 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Listening to this, having studied it some, out of my own self interest since it was absolutely never taught in school, was both, enthralling, but heart-breaking. The author, narrator and attention to detail down to the individual level made this a masterpiece.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5It isn’t very often that a book leaves me feeling physically winded, but this was one of them. The basic premise is painfully simple; to recount the many different experiences of the nuclear bombardment of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Others have tried; notably, John Hersey’s excellent Hiroshima; but Pellegrino has produced something truly in a class of its own. The individuals come from all walks of life, and share mixed fortunes. Some died instantly, others escaped with barely a scratch and lived long and healthy lives after the war ended. Some were saved by mere circumstance, whilst others fled Hiroshima for the perceived safety of Nagasaki, and found themselves double survivors. This book is excellently written, and presents a sound mixture of historical fact and human perception to tell a difficult story. If the book had a weak section, it was the end, where history started to drift into more abstract moralising about peace and nuclear disarmament. Having said that, even this section was highly relevant and it was an apt ending to a difficult but highly rewarding read.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Excellent history. Sometimes hard to read, due the the subject matter. Learned things about the war that I did not know such as the order to the Japanese people and the US Military to not discuss the bombing. Pellegrino did a good job of intertwining the horrors of bombing with the lives of the peoples that he ffollowed. A must read!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This is not an easy book to read - I had to read it very slowly, in little bits, because it upset me so much and left me feeling sick, but that's exactly why it's such a good book - because these events were horrific, and reading about them should leave you feeling ill. Pellegrino includes many eye-witness accounts of the atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He describes the victims in detail and definitely succeeds in "putting a human face" on the tragedy. Anyone who reads these horrific accounts will come away from it realizing how evil and horrible war is. The imaginations of the most talented horror authors could never come up with the immensely painful stories included here:-a man who's feet had been burned off "tap-dancing" down the street on the splintered bones-a beautiful girl who's only wound appeared to be a gash in her belly - who spent the night trying to shove her intestines back in-a girl who's shadow was left burned on the ground behind her and who's skin peeled off her hand and arm as easily as glove when another survivor tried to help her stand-the "alligator" who fell from the sky and terrified two little girls when they realized it was a severely burned man who's skin had turned to "scales" -the "ant walkers" who stumbled out of the ruins, their faces melted away leaving only red gaping holes for mouths, who were only able to murmur for water...this is truly horrific, and truly important to read. It is important to know, as human beings, what we have done and what we are capable of doing and what happens to the civilians in times of war.