This excellent book documents the aftermath of the August 6, 1945, atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Although an historic report, it is as captivating and as "page turning" as a good novel. The stories it recounts show both the best and the worst of what it means to be human.

Dr. Jungk, a German Jew who was imprisoned by the Nazis, is a journalist and historian without peer. He spent almost 3 years researching this book and it paid off. Children of the Ashes is an incredibly informative recount of Hiroshima's struggle to recover, intertwined with numerous "close-up" stories of individuals who survived and of people - including Americans - who to helped rebuild it.

Despite the subject being about one of the low points in recent history, the book leaves you with a positive feeling about humankind. As "history" or as simply a "story" this book so good that I cannot find a positive enough adjective to describe it. If you are interested in humanity, war, history or Japan, hunt down a copy!

(For readers in English: the copy I read was translated from the original German "Strahlen aus der Asche" by Constantine Fitzgibbon.)

While an easy to read book, Jungk presents some false information that depreciates the value of the book.

The first is the impression that Von Weisacker and other German scientists attempted to give to the post war world, that they were not really trying to build a bomb, but were merely interested in nuclear power. This is refuted by Jeremy Bernstein, in his book "Hitler's Uranium Club." The historical record shows that there were many memorandums sent to the German Military, by the scientists, about the possibility of producing an atomic bomb.

The more serious misstatement however, is about Klaus Fuchs' espionage on the Manhattan Project which was the most damaging espionage committed by any of the atomic spies of that era. Jungk claims that Fuchs decided to spy for the Soviet Union when he learned about plans to bomb Hiroshima. This is so off base that one has to question Jungk's scholarship or motives. Here is why: Fuchs began spying for the Soviets in 1941 in Britain, before Pearl Harbor and before there was even a Manhattan Project. The decision to acutally bomb Hiroshima was made in 1945. None of the scientists know what the targets were.

This is such a huge distortion of the facts that it should be mentioned in any review of this book. The book has lots of details but if you buy it, beware of some of the downright distortions of history. A better choice is Richard Rhodes's book, "The Making of the Atomic Bomb".

I read this as a follow up to 'the making of the Atomic Bomb'. It didn't just rehash what I had already read. Lot's of fresh material and interesting insights.

Often times, books loose a great deal when translated. I haven't read the original German version of this book, but the English version is so captivating that I can't imagine much was lost in the change of language.

If you want to learn more, not only about the scientists who developed the bomb, but the issues surrounding its use and further development you can't to better than this book. It is exceptionally well written, and superbly translated. It's fabulous to have a record so well researched written by someone in a position that is far more objective than an American's would have been at that time.

The book starts you off after World War I in Göttingen, the mecca for scientific thought at the time. The early chapters lay an excellent foundation for the readers understanding of the issues surrounding the development of the atomic bomb.

The account of the research at Los Alamos is very well covered, and Jungk avoids going to deeply into the technical aspects of the research. This makes it accessible to anyone, regardless of their depth of scientific knowledge. (I also recommend Richard Feynman's "Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman" for an anecdotal, and more whimsical account of the Los Alamos research.)

The most fascinating part of the book for me was the discussion of the events leading up to the use of the atomic bomb in Japan. I have used this book many times as a source for arguing that the atomic assault on Japan was not necessary. The unique thing that "...Suns" provides is the perspective of the scientist's involved. Instead of only discussing the political aspect, and occasionally mentioning Oppenheimer or Teller, as other texts about the bomb tend to do, Jungk gives the reader clear view of the scientist's perspective on military deployment of an atomic weapon. (The Franck Report is appended.)

Finally, the beginning of the arms race is explored, up through Russia's and the United States' development of hydrogen bombs. No doubt this section would have been more complete had the book been written later. However, I found that reading the book now, with the knowledge of the extent of the cold war and the arms race makes reading the perspective of someone who was witnessing the beginnings of it even more interesting.

One usually does not think of history as something that enthralls so deeply as this book does. It is perhaps the most engaging book I have ever read.