Thank God for the Atom BombPaul Fussell
Thank God for the Atom Bomb
by Paul Fussell · first published 1990
8mentions
5recommended by
7HN commenters
2012–2025first – last mentioned
71% recommend29% neutral
Why HN recommends it
A compact, provocative essay arguing against the view that the atomic bombings were unjustified. Its sharp, subtle reasoning is readable for anyone studying World War II and its aftermath.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Try reading the title piece of his collection "Thank God for the Atom Bomb." I thought of it when I read your essay "What you Can't Say." Fussell liked breaking rules, and he did it with subtlety and a lot of thought. He was a complex thinker.
on “Paul Fussell, Literary Scholar and Critic, Is Dead at 88” ↗…and aftermath, would see it as justified or necessary. I personally don't accept that. Nuclear weapons should never be used by humans on humans. The best response to all criticism of the bombings is "Thank God for the Atom Bomb" by Paul Fussell, The New Republic, August 1981. <https://www.uio.no/studier/emner/hf/iakh/HIS1300MET/v12/unde...>
on “Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (and Testimonials)” ↗Highly relevant: "Thank God for the Atom Bomb" by Paul Fussell, The New Republic, August 1981. <https://www.uio.no/studier/emner/hf/iakh/HIS1300MET/v12/unde...>
on “Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (and Testimonials)” ↗To this I will add two more longish, striking, compulsively readable pieces about World War II: Thank God For the Atom Bomb (also by Paul Fussell): https://www.uio.no/studier/emner/hf/iakh/HIS1300MET/v12/unde... Losing the War by Lee Sandlin: https://www.leesandlin.com/articles/LosingTheWar.htm
on “My War (1982)” ↗…stage for the post-war environment that was coming soon. c. Making sure that the huge expense of developing the weapons wasn't "wasted" by not using them against an enemy. I've read Paul Fussell's "Thank God for the Atom Bomb" (which I just re-read now) since it's the most concise yet persuasive argument I've encountered in favor of using atomic weapons to save lives. If I knew of a similar writing making the opposite case,…
on “U.S. bombs Iranian nuclear sites” ↗Thank God For the Atom Bomb: https://www.uio.no/studier/emner/hf/iakh/HIS1300MET/v12/unde...
on “Ask HN: What are some essays that profoundly changed the way you think” ↗I haven't read that one in a long time. It's Fussell being humorous, at least in terms of style. His more serious books, "Wartime", and his famous essay "Thank God for the Atom Bomb", have little humor. Fussell was one of the ground troops already in the staging process for the land invasion of Japan, so he's entitled to an opinion on the atomic bombing. This modernized review of…
on “Joint Book Review: Class, by Paul Fussell” ↗Paul Fussel had something to say on that topic in the essay "Thank God for the Atom Bomb": https://www.uio.no/studier/emner/hf/iakh/HIS1300MET/v12/unde...
on “Transcript of Taped Conversations Among German Nuclear Physicists (1945)” ↗