The detonation of the first atomic bomb over Hiroshima on August 6th 1945 caused the immediate death of around 70,000 people, the injury of a similar number, and the almost entire destruction of the city. The bomb which exploded over Ngasaki on August 9th was about half as powerful. The two explosions brought an end to the war with Japan and inaugurated an arms race which was to consume countless resources and terrorise the world until the 1990s.
Please log in to consult the article in its entirety. If you are a member (student of staff) of a subscribing institution (see List), you should be able to access the LE on campus directly (without the need to log in), and off-campus either via the institutional log in we offer, or via your institution's remote access facilities, or by creating a personal user account with your institutional email address. If you are not a member of a subscribing institution, you will need to purchase a personal subscription. For more information on how to subscribe as an individual user, please see under Individual Subcriptions.
76 words
Citation: Editors, Litencyc. "Hiroshima and Nagasaki". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 27 March 2005 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=1532, accessed 09 June 2026.]
