Ep 137: Richard Frank on Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and World War II’s Endgame

Richard Frank, historian and author of Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire and Tower of Skulls: A History of the Asia-Pacific War: July 1937-May 1942, joins the show to talk about the controversial legacy of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. ▪️ Times      •      02:05 Introduction      •      02:15 Soldier/Lawyer/Historian     •      09:19 Early controversy      •      14:55 Counting all the dead         •      21:54 Contemplating invasion     •      30:10 1:1 ratio, recipe for a bloodbath     •      38:03 Why unconditional surrender?      •      40:48 Two steps to end the war     •      46:54 A combination of forces      •      51:08 How many bombs?     •      54:01 Thinking as your enemy does Follow along  on Instagram Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack