Chris Wallace is the author of 3 books. Countdown 1945: The Extraordinary Story of the Atomic Bomb and the 116 Days That Changed the World was published in 2020. It is the 48th book I completed reading in 2023.

Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own! I categorize this book as G. This book looks at the 116 days between 12 April 1945, when Truman was sworn in as President, and the first nuclear bomb was dropped on 6 August 1945. Remarkably, Truman had only two private meetings with FDR and no knowledge of the bomb as the Vice President. He was suddenly charged with leading the nation to victory. He also had to decide how he should deal with our frenemy Stalin. Most importantly, he had to make the decision whether or not to use the bomb.

The book touches on the lives of a number of people who were involved with the bomb. Some were part of the development. Others were involved in the dropping or were the target of the first bomb. A brief follow-up on them after the war ended is also included.

I enjoyed the 6+ hours I spent reading this 317-page WWII-era history. The chosen cover art is eye-catching. I give this book a rating of 4.4 (rounded to 4) out of 5.

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April 12, 1945 witnessed the loss of a wartime leader with the passing of President Franklin Roosevelt. World War II was in its latter stages, the Allied effort gaining ground over Axis powers, victory far from assured. Vice President Harry Truman assumed the presidency with trepidation, especially when informed of the Manhattan Project. The vast project was spread across the country, employed hundreds of thousands of men & women, yet maintained its covert purpose: The building of an Atomic Bomb.

The crucial cogs in this wartime machine were many: Scientists such as Robert Oppenheimer, who oversaw the New Mexico side of the project despite reservations about his past Communist Party affiliations to Col. Paul Tibbets who led the team that ultimately dropped the bomb on Hiroshima. Author and Journalist Chris Wallace charts the perilous and unsure course of the US during the waning days of World War II, capturing the various personas who brought the bomb to fruition. Wallace masterfully writes of the trying times and omnipresent doubt of the Allies up to the last second. A+ work.

Although I’ve always been fascinated with the history of World War II, there are so many gaps in my knowledge of the events of that time. So many books on this topic read like textbooks—full of information but not very exciting. This book is the exception—it’s narrative nonfiction at its finest. Reading like a suspenseful novel, I was both entertained and educated about the key players and events that led up to the atomic bomb. The countdown concept was compelling, and the different personal perspectives added even more interest. This would be an excellent book to read in a high school history class, as it’s very concise and highly accessible. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was exceptional at building suspense for an event where the outcome is already known. The thrilleresque feeling of the writing allowed for a real page turner. I especially enjoyed all of the different point of view leading up to the events, including the perspective of a young girl in Japan. Wallace did a fantastic job with this material and I look forward to whatever he turns his focus on next!

I am in that fast-shrinking minority of Americans who remember the bewilderment of President Roosevelt's death and the lesser shock (because it happened during summer vacation, while Joe and I were bringing in the hay for 35 cents an hour) of atomic fission over Hiroshima. Of all possible futures, we could never have imagined that, 75 years on, a celebrity author would turn those few months into a delightful summertime read. The TV newsman Chris Wallace has done just that, with help from a Pulitzer-winning ghostwriter. The book flags a bit in the mid-section, but otherwise Countdown 1945: The Extraordinary Story of the Atomic Bomb and the 116 Days That Changed the World is a grand gallop toward a rousing finish. Well done, Messrs Wallace and Weiss! There were a few howlers, to be sure. The authors regularly stress the billions spent on the Manhattan Project, as though it were the most expensive of the War. (Developing the plane that carried those bombs cost quite a bit more.) But the lapses are dwarfed by many brilliant touches. Harry Truman is called to the White House to learn that he is now the president -- but there's no Bible handy. When "a Gideon" is found in the chief usher's desk. Truman puts his right hand atop the Bible, so the Chief Justice makes repeat the oath with his hand duly raised. We glimpse the the weariness of the Secretary of War: "Henry Stimson's old bones ached." Preparing for the mission, Col. Tibbets changes his call sign to "Dimples." When the crew tidies Enola Gay before takeoff, the trash includes "a pair of ladies' panties." After the explosion, Tibbets circles back toward Hiroshima so the crew can see the mushroom cloud, and a crewman wonders if it contains "all the souls of the victims rising to heaven."

Then, alas, Mr Matthews gives us his second thoughts, rehashing the tired old arguments about the use of Little Boy and Fat Man. I was particularly amused by his discovery of a generational divide on the subject: "Seven in ten Americans over age sixty said use of atomic weapons was justified. Less than half of those under thirty agreed." Well, sure! What does it cost the kids to disagree? Yet some of them wouldn't be alive today if their grandfathers had landed on Kyushu in November 1945, or on Honshu four months later. Read Countdown 1945 by all means, but skip the breast-beating that's tacked onto it.

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. Rather light reading on a powerful and histroric subject. Wallace goes into detail on the development and use of the atomic bomb that most readers are unaware of. How much of the writing is actually done by Wallace or his co-writer is problematic but is still entertaining.

In "Countdown: 1945," Chris Wallace and Mitch Weiss, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist, provide a chronological account of the events leading up to the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. For history buffs, there is little new here. However, the authors broaden the book's scope with intriguing anecdotes about the men and women who contributed to the Manhattan Project, a massive undertaking that was "costly, chancy, and cloaked in total secrecy." We learn about the opinions and actions of President Harry Truman; J. Robert Oppenheimer and other top scientists; General Leslie Groves; the flight crews that worked with Colonel Paul Tibbets, who flew the plane from which the first nuclear bomb was dropped; Ruth Sisson, an employee who operated "a machine she didn't understand" at Oak Ridge, and worried about her fiancée, a soldier stationed overseas; and a ten-year-old Japanese child, Hideko Tamura, who miraculously survived the blast at Hiroshima.

The prose style is clear and fast-paced. Wallace and Weiss describe Truman's sudden ascendancy from FDR's overshadowed vice-president to a commander-in-chief in wartime. Eleanor Roosevelt wasn't kidding when, after her husband's death, she told Truman, "You are the one in trouble now." FDR was a tough act to follow, and Truman set out to prove that he could be a measured, resolute, and effective leader. He knew nothing about the Manhattan Project until his secretary of war, Henry Stimson, revealed that the Americans were surreptitiously creating "a new explosive of almost unbelievable destructive power." Truman was stunned. He is quoted as saying, "It was a day…when the world fell in on me."

The countdown begins on April 15, 1945, and it ends with Japan's surrender, an epilogue, and a postscript. In a straightforward reportorial style, Wallace and Weiss move back and forth frequently between characters, which can be distracting. However, they keep things lively with colorful tidbits about the individuals' personal lives and perspectives, an overview of the nuclear age and the Cold War, and snapshots of what happened to key figures in later life. "Countdown" is a clearly written and well-researched refresher course about a pivotal time in world history. It raises familiar questions about the moral conundrum that Truman faced: Should American forces invade Japan, which would mean the loss of many lives on both sides, or should Truman attempt to end the conflict quickly by ordering the annihilation of thousands of men, women, and children--most of them civilians--and exposing the survivors to potentially deadly doses radiation? It was a wrenching decision that is still debated today.

Everyone has heard about these events before but this book delves into the behind the scenes and deeper issues from Pearl Harbor to the release of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. I loved the beginning chapters started with a lot of conflict with FDR dying and a reluctant but ready Harry S Truman becoming the 33rd President of the United States. He wanted to follow through with FDR's plans during war against Germany and Japan exactly as it was laid out. Truman obviously had big shoes to full and a lot of quick learning to do.

The details and narrative in this book was exceptional. Any seasoned nonfiction reader can tell many hours of careful research and passion went into writing this book. The result is something that is easier and more interesting to understand about a sensitive period in American history. Definitely a new to me favorite nonfiction writer. I highly recommend this to anyone interested in WWII history, American history events, etc. A must read and definitely one I will add to be library as a hardcover.

Thanks to Netgalley, Chris Wallace and Avid Reader Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Available: 6/9/20

This is an insightful and interesting look into the days leading up to the use of the Atomic Bomb in Japan. It is interesting to see all of the small details and decisions that lead up to an event that changed warfare forever.

I really enjoyed learning more about this truly historic event. It wasn't a decision that came lightly, but it was a decisive end to a war that had lasted for far too long. I'm glad I read this, I learned a lot and I've always been interested in WWII so I'm looking forward to seeing what else I can learn from behind the scenes books like this.

Very well done.

Free ARC from NET GALLEY

Didn't want top read due Wallace woeful performance in the news media but I guess Mr. Wiess pulled him thru in what is a great account of how even today leaders today will debate the morality of a single weapon, but not the DEATH of thousands in pursuit of the same goal.