Gar Alperovitz is a historian and political economist and is President of the National Center for Economic Alternatives in Washington DC. He has been a fellow of Kings College Cambridge and the Kennedy Institute at Harvard. He has contributed to many publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Nation. A BBC special on Alperovitz's work was screened 1989.

'A daring and elaborate work of historical reconstruction'

• Author's NoteAcknowledgmentsIntroduction to the 1985 edition The Bombing of Hiroshima and NagaskiPreface1. The Strategy of an Immediate Showdown2. The Strategy of a Delayed Showdown3. The Decision to Postpone a Confrontation with Stalin4. The Far East and Two Faces of the Strategy of Delay5. The Tactics of the Potsdam Conference (I)6. The Tactics of the Potsdam Conference (II)7. American Diplomacy Takes the Offensive8. ConclusionsAppendix I: A Note on the Historical Debate Over Questions Concerning Truman's 1945 Strategy of DelayAppendix II: Excerpts from a 1946 US Intelligence ReportAppendix III: Stimson's Unsuccessful Attempt to Change the Strategy of Delay Before Leaving OfficeAppendix IV: 'Atomic Warfare and the Christian Faith': A Report from the Federal Council of Churches, 1946Appendix V: Excerpts from 'The Challenge of Peace': National Conference of Catholic Bishops' Pastoral Letter on War and Peace, 1983 Bibliography of Important SourcesNotesIndex

Gar Alperovitz is a historian and political economist and is President of the National Center for Economic Alternatives in Washington DC. He has been a fellow of Kings College Cambridge and the Kennedy Institute at Harvard. He has contributed to many publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Nation. A BBC special on Alperovitz's work was screened 1989.

'A daring and elaborate work of historical reconstruction'

• Author's NoteAcknowledgmentsIntroduction to the 1985 edition The Bombing of Hiroshima and NagaskiPreface1. The Strategy of an Immediate Showdown2. The Strategy of a Delayed Showdown3. The Decision to Postpone a Confrontation with Stalin4. The Far East and Two Faces of the Strategy of Delay5. The Tactics of the Potsdam Conference (I)6. The Tactics of the Potsdam Conference (II)7. American Diplomacy Takes the Offensive8. ConclusionsAppendix I: A Note on the Historical Debate Over Questions Concerning Truman's 1945 Strategy of DelayAppendix II: Excerpts from a 1946 US Intelligence ReportAppendix III: Stimson's Unsuccessful Attempt to Change the Strategy of Delay Before Leaving OfficeAppendix IV: 'Atomic Warfare and the Christian Faith': A Report from the Federal Council of Churches, 1946Appendix V: Excerpts from 'The Challenge of Peace': National Conference of Catholic Bishops' Pastoral Letter on War and Peace, 1983 Bibliography of Important SourcesNotesIndex

Gar Alperovitz is a historian and political economist and is President of the National Center for Economic Alternatives in Washington DC. He has been a fellow of Kings College Cambridge and the Kennedy Institute at Harvard. He has contributed to many publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Nation. A BBC special on Alperovitz's work was screened 1989.

'A daring and elaborate work of historical reconstruction'

• Author's NoteAcknowledgmentsIntroduction to the 1985 edition The Bombing of Hiroshima and NagaskiPreface1. The Strategy of an Immediate Showdown2. The Strategy of a Delayed Showdown3. The Decision to Postpone a Confrontation with Stalin4. The Far East and Two Faces of the Strategy of Delay5. The Tactics of the Potsdam Conference (I)6. The Tactics of the Potsdam Conference (II)7. American Diplomacy Takes the Offensive8. ConclusionsAppendix I: A Note on the Historical Debate Over Questions Concerning Truman's 1945 Strategy of DelayAppendix II: Excerpts from a 1946 US Intelligence ReportAppendix III: Stimson's Unsuccessful Attempt to Change the Strategy of Delay Before Leaving OfficeAppendix IV: 'Atomic Warfare and the Christian Faith': A Report from the Federal Council of Churches, 1946Appendix V: Excerpts from 'The Challenge of Peace': National Conference of Catholic Bishops' Pastoral Letter on War and Peace, 1983 Bibliography of Important SourcesNotesIndex