\u201c\u2018Why is it night already? Why did our house fall down? What happened?\u2019 The befuddlement of 5-year-old Myeko Nakamura moments after the first atomic bomb fell at 8:15 on the morning of Aug. 6, 1945, as related in John Hersey\u2019s classic account Hiroshima<\/em>, remains to a large extent our befuddlement today. \u2026 Above all we are mystified that today\u2019s leaders aren\u2019t doing more to prevent a greater horror than Hiroshima; if anything, led by America\u2019s history-shredding president, Donald Trump, they are making that prospect more likely.\u201d<\/p>\n FP\u2019s Michael Hirsh wrote these words five years ago to mark 75 years since the United States dropped the first atomic bomb on Japan. Five years on, in Trump\u2019s second term, Hirsh\u2019s analysis remains as relevant as ever. This edition of The Reading List revisits the legacy of the bombs over the past eight decades and considers what the world has\u2014and hasn\u2019t\u2014learned from the nuclear atrocities of 1945.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u201c\u2018Why is it night already? Why did our house fall down? What happened?\u2019 The befuddlement of 5-year-old Myeko Nakamura moments after the first atomic bomb fell at 8:15 on the morning of Aug. 6, 1945, as related in John Hersey\u2019s classic account Hiroshima<\/em>, remains to a large extent our befuddlement today. \u2026 Above all we are mystified that today\u2019s leaders aren\u2019t doing more to prevent a greater horror than Hiroshima; if anything, led by America\u2019s history-shredding president, Donald Trump, they are making that prospect more likely.\u201d<\/p>\n FP\u2019s Michael Hirsh wrote these words five years ago to mark 75 years since the United States dropped the first atomic bomb on Japan. Five years on, in Trump\u2019s second term, Hirsh\u2019s analysis remains as relevant as ever. This edition of The Reading List revisits the legacy of the bombs over the past eight decades and considers what the world has\u2014and hasn\u2019t\u2014learned from the nuclear atrocities of 1945.<\/p>\n An aerial photo shows the explosion over Hiroshima, Japan, on Aug. 6, 1945, shortly after the \u201cLittle Boy\u201d atomic bomb was dropped. Universal History Archive\/UIG via Getty images<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Many years after the first nuclear bomb fell, we are grateful it hasn\u2019t happened again, mystified it didn\u2019t, and terrified it still might, Michael Hirsh writes.<\/p>\n A man stands amid the ruins of Hiroshima, Japan, after the United States dropped an atomic bomb, killing tens of thousands of civilians, on Aug. 6, 1945. AP<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n U.S. leaders must take responsibility for past nuclear atrocities, Adam Mount writes.<\/p>\n General Douglas MacArthur and Japan\u2019s Emperor Hirohito in 1945, a few weeks after Japan\u2019s surrender on September 2, 1945. AFP via Getty Images<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n For decades, U.S. foreign policy has been badly distorted by the way that World War II ended, Marc Gallicchio writes.<\/p>\n An aerial view shows the leveling of whole city blocks in Tokyo after U.S. incendiary bombing raids in 1945. Corbis via Getty Images<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Eighty years on, the focus on the atomic bombs overlooks the impact of the Tokyo air raid, Richard Overy writes.<\/p>\n The \u201cGadget,\u201d the first atomic bomb, explodes in New Mexico on July 16, 1945. Corbis via Getty Images<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Today\u2019s nukes would make the destroyer of worlds shudder, Jack Detsch writes.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n <\/span>The Hiroshima Effect<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n
\n
\n ![\"A](\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/hiroshima-japan-nuclear-weapons-us-bomb-AP450801062.jpg\"){kind=spacer}
\n <\/span>America\u2019s Nuclear Rules Still Allow Another Hiroshima<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n
\n
\n ![\"Two](\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/rl-macarthur-japan-wwii-GettyImages-847398248.jpg\")
\n <\/span>The Dangerous Illusion of Japan\u2019s Unconditional Surrender<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n
\n
\n ![\"An](\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/rl-tokyo-firebombing-world-war-ii-GettyImages-615314490.webp\")
\n <\/span>The Forgotten Bombing<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n
\n
\n ![\"A](\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Oppenheimer-Nuclear-bomb-trinity-us-GettyImages-615303624.jpg\"){kind=spacer}
\n <\/span>The Long Shadow of Oppenheimer\u2019s Trinity Test<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n