ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book presents a general appraisal of the origins and development of nuclear strategy based upon the lessons learned from that 1945 experience. It argues that the destruction by atom bombs of the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is inextricably interwoven with the subsequent history of the nuclear age. The book explores the aspects of the bombings in an attempt to demonstrate evidence pointing in directions quite contrary to conventional wisdom. It examines the proposition that the decision to drop the bombs was made rationally to secure an identifiable political end. The book shows that surface appearances to the contrary, the Hiroshima axioms have so entrenched themselves in our thinking that they continue to shape our strategic concepts, even in singularly inappropriate circumstances.
