and a cover-up it surely was. It’s
unfortunate that his otherwise
superb review was marred by this
faulty misreading.
BENJAMIN SADOCK
NEW YORKTO THE EDITOR:
As a Vietnam veteran, retired
member of the United States
Army and a reader, I was truly
astonished by the breadth of
your “World War II at 75” Book
Review. It is so good, and I saythis in possession of a bookcase
full of World War I and World
War II nonfiction. I think you
should prepare a hardcover
deluxe edition of it including
full-page photos. I’ll be first in
line to order it. Thanks for giving
me respite from the storm.
CHRIS QUEALLY
SCARBOROUGH, MAINE
TO THE EDITOR:
The Aug. 30 review of Chris
Wallace’s “Countdown 1945”
correctly notes that the United
States estimated an invasion of
Japan would result in the deaths
of 500,000 to one million Ameri-
cans. But he fails to note this: A
study done for Secretary of War
Henry Stimson’s staff estimated
that the invasion would also cost
five million to 10 million Japa-
nese fatalities.
Additionally, Japanese military
directives ordered the execution
of all prisoners of war if Japan
was ever invaded. I suggest the
129,000 to 226,000 people killed
by dropping the atomic bombs on
Hiroshima and Nagasaki be
considered in this light. The
success of Little Boy may not
have been, as Truman said, “the
greatest thing in history,” but it
saved many more lives — Ameri-
can and Japanese — than it cost.
JIM PARRY
NORWALK, CONN.TO THE EDITOR:
I was pleased to see an issue
devoted to World War II, but had
mixed feelings about the title,
“The Good War.”
World War II was a good war
in the same sense as the Civil
War: It had to be fought, and the
“good guys” won. But the war
itself was horrendous. It killed
more than 60 million people —
the great majority civilians —
and institutionalized practices
(genocide, torture, strategic
bombing) that continue to plague
us today. In the victorious na-
tions, it contributed to a sense of
self-righteousness that makes
balanced debate difficult three
generations later. There are
better and worse wars, but there
aren’t any good ones.
MICHAEL A. LIVINGSTON
PHILADELPHIA[email protected]Letters
6 SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2020
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Bestseller“During an attempted
robbery of my jewelry
in 1991 at Los Angeles
International Airport, I
was stabbed and almost
died”. I needed six units
of blood to stabilize my
condition. Early success
in the diamond trade
fueled Bruner’s joy of
supporting charitable
causes and expanding
his fund as a prankster,
thrill-seeker, gambler,
treasure hunter, and
champion race car
driver. Bruner’s insatiable
appetite for high stakes
living saw him daring
highway patrolman to
catch him as he sped
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lanehighway at 160 MPH in his Ferrari. An ugly divorce inspired him
to pay his wife’s attorney by dumping 17,000 one-dollar bills on a
conference room table. When Bruner began to suffer the effects of
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drug, alcohol, and co-occurring psychological conditions. Rainbow’s End
Recovery Center.The book is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.PHOTOGRAPH BY PHOTOQUEST/GETTY IMAGESWar and RemembranceTO THE EDITOR:
The Aug. 30 issue commemorat-
ing the 75th anniversary of
World War II’s end represents a
high point for the Book Review,
with many reviews I’ll hold on to
for future rereading.
The arguments about dropping
the atomic bombs on Japan
remain controversial. Unfortu-
nately, the positions both for and
against the bombing don’t often
consider what the facts were at
the time. Truman, although new
to the presidency, made the right
decision backed up by a war-
weary nation facing tremendous
additional casualties in the war
against Japan.
Few of the American decision
makers could have pictured in
advance the total devastation,
and probably only considered the
bomb to be a usual weapon of
war. Criticism is not justified
when you were not there.
NELSON MARANS
NEW YORKTO THE EDITOR:
The Aug. 30 review by William
Langewiesche of Lesley M.M.
Blume’s “Fallout” was masterly,
until he asserted that there was —
to use his words — no “cover-up to
hide the realities of radiation
sickness from public knowledge.”
But that seems to go against what
Blume is saying. The reviewer
blames “authentic ignorance,
reflexive secrecy and incompetent
military spin” to excuse the mili-
tary. But he cannot have it both
ways. Those defects are exactly
what accounted for the cover-up,BOOK REVIEW LIVE
The Politics of Fiction
Wednesday, September 16
at 4:30 p.m. E.T.In the midst of a global
pandemic, a national strug-
gle toward racial justice and
a profoundly consequential
American election, this
moment can be difficult to
grasp. Can fiction help us
make sense of it all and
better understand what lies
ahead? Do fiction writers
have any responsibility to
grapple with current
events?The book critic Parul Sehgal
welcomes the Pulitzer-
winning playwright and
fiction writer Ayad Akhtar,
the novelist Marlon James
and others for an afternoon
of readings and conversa-
tion, exploring the intersec-
tion of fiction with our
current political realities.
For more information, visit
timesevents.nytimes.com.Gen. George C. Marshall surrounded by members of his staff in 1941.