The Doctor of Hiroshima

(Paperback)

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With what this poor woman had been through the sight of her crying tore at my heartstrings. What if something should happen to her; who would care for her little baby To conceal the fear and terror in my heart I left her, trying to put up a cheerful front. But no one could conceal from her the ominous import of the dark spots that had appeared on her chest.

The Doctor of Hiroshima is the extraordinary true story of Dr Michihiko Hachiya, whose hospital was less than a mile from the centre of the atomic bomb that hit on that warm August day. Somehow, in immense shock and pain and extremely weak, the doctor and his wife manage to drag themselves to the hospital, where their horrific wounds are treated, and they slowly begin to recover. Tentatively, the doctor starts to reckon with the utter devastation of the bomb, and to investigate the strange symptoms afflicting his patients.

Told simply and poignantly through Dr Hachiya's daily diary entries, The Doctor of Hiroshima is the inspiring story of how a doctor and his patients fought to survive and rebuild their lives in the face of unimaginable loss.

Reviews

One of the most extraordinary records of human calamity and courage in the history of letters. * Newsweek *
Comes closer to telling the real story than anything I have seen outside of Japan. * Norman Cousins *
I have read it through as a sitting... It is a simple and unpretentious account of compassion, sorrow, and great courage. * Robert Oppenheimer *
A book that we all ought to read in order that we may know what we have done and what will happen in the future if the atomic weapons continue to be used. * Pearl Buck, author of The Good Earth *

Author Bio

Dr. Michihiko Hachiya was Director of the Hiroshima Communications Hospital when the world's first atomic bomb was dropped on the city. After the bomb, he continued as Director there for several years before taking on a teaching role at Okayama University Medical School. He retired in Okayama and passed away in the 1980s.