John Hersey’s full report “Hiroshima” is available to read on The New Yorker’s website. It follows six people in Hiroshima from the atomic bombing at 8:15 a.m. on August 6, 1945, into its aftermath. The piece is reported narrative nonfiction—not a complete military history or a technical account of the weapon.
Where to read the full text
Read Hersey’s original article on The New Yorker’s “Hiroshima” page. You do not need to buy a book to access the online text.
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The magazine first published the report in its August 31, 1946 issue. It had initially been planned as a four-part series, but appeared together in one issue, which devoted all its editorial space to Hersey’s account. The New Yorker later made the full text available online, as Joshua Rothman explained in 2015. Read Rothman’s account of the online publication.
Who are the six people in Hersey’s report?
Hersey begins by locating each person at the moment of the bombing, then follows their experiences in the days and aftermath that follow. The six are:
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- Atom Bomb
- World War II
- American History
- Japanese History
- Mass Destruction
- Toshiko Sasaki, a clerk.
- Masakazu Fujii, a physician.
- Hatsuyo Nakamura, a widow.
- Wilhelm Kleinsorge, a German Jesuit priest.
- Terufumi Sasaki, a young surgeon.
- Kiyoshi Tanimoto, a Methodist pastor.
The report’s human scale comes from these distinct lives and perspectives. It does not set out to be a comprehensive military history of the bombing.
What kind of work is “Hiroshima”?
“Hiroshima” is a work of reported narrative nonfiction. Hersey’s original opening says, “A hundred thousand people were killed by the atomic bomb.” That is the article’s own statement, not a current casualty estimate independently established by the sources cited here. For historical interpretation, keep that attribution attached to the figure.
In a 1995 retrospective, Roger Angell described Hersey’s article as 31,000 words. Angell also wrote that the book had sold more than 3.5 million copies by that time; this is a historical sales figure from 1995, not a current total. Read Angell’s retrospective, “Hersey and History.”
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The original New Yorker text is the direct option if you want to read the article online. For a copy to keep or an audio edition, publisher Penguin Random House lists paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats for Hiroshima. Its catalog identifies the paperback as ISBN 9780593080696. Availability and pricing can vary; the publisher’s listing does not establish retailer stock or compare edition contents.
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- Read the original online text at The New Yorker.
- See Penguin Random House’s format listing if you prefer a paperback, ebook, or audiobook.
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