Introduction: the most controversial decision

Franklin Roosevelt, the Manhattan Project, and the development of the atomic bomb

Harry Truman, Henry Stimson, and atomic briefings

James F. Byrnes, the atomic bomb, and the Pacific War

The Potsdam Conference, the Trinity test, and 'atomic diplomacy'

Hiroshima, the Japanese, and the Soviets

The Japanese surrender

Necessary, but was It right?

Byrnes, the Soviets, and the American atomic monopoly

The atomic bomb and the origins of the Cold War.