Many accounts, personal and secondary, have been written by and about the victims of the atomic bombs, the best known being John Hersey's Hiroshima ( LJ 11/1/46; 9/15/85 rev. ed.). Following an essay which discusses (and indicts) the decisions to drop the bombs, the Seldens have assembled literary expressions, factual and fictional, written by those who experienced the world's only nuclear warfare. The testimony appears in the form of "Novellas," "Poetry," a "Photo Essay," "Citizens' Memoirs," "Pictures by Atomic Bomb Survivors" (not available for review), and "Children's Voices." As the editors assert, these voices " . . . merit careful listening," but their graphic descriptions of unimaginable horrors challenge both stomach and conscience. Recommended.
- Kenneth W. Berger, Duke Univ. Lib., Durham, N.C.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
