Road to Surrender

Evan Thomas

A riveting, immersive account of the agonizing decision to use nuclear weapons against Japan in World War II

Three men were intimately involved with America’s decision to drop the atomic bomb – and Japan’s decision to surrender: Henry Stimson, the American Secretary of War; General Carl “Tooey” Spaatz, head of strategic bombing in the Pacific; and Japanese Foreign Minister Shigenori Togo, the only one in Emperor Hirohito’s Supreme War Council who believed even before the bombs were dropped that Japan should surrender.

This suspenseful, impeccably researched history draws on new access to the diaries of Stimson, Togo and Spaatz to tell their stories, bringing these critical events to vivid life while contemplating the immense weight of their historic decision.

‘An indispensable portrait of power, anxiety, and moral ambiguity.’ Jon Meacham, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of And There Was Light

Pub date: 8 June 2023

Price: £20

ISBN: 9781783967292 epub: 9781783967308

Audio: 9781783967339

Genre: Military History, Second World War, Politics

Format: Hardback

Dimensions: 234x153 mm

Extent: 336 pages

Rights: UK & Commonwealth

‘A terrifying, heartbreaking account of three men under unimaginable pressure . . . This is history that crackles with journalistic immediacy.’ Nathaniel Philbrick, author of In the Heart of the Sea

Evan Thomas is the author of ten books, including the New York Times bestsellers John Paul Jones, Sea of Thunder, and First: Sandra Day O’Connor. Thomas was a writer, correspondent and editor for thirty-three years at Time and Newsweek, including ten years as Newsweek’s Washington bureau chief. He appears regularly on many TV and radio talk shows. Thomas has taught at Harvard and Princeton.