Washington, D.C.

The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki will be the results of the decisions made in this book, but the American capital is where such decisions have to be made. The narrative begins here in 1939, with Roosevelt’s decision to support the building of a nuclear weapon, and years later will be the scene where Harry Truman takes office, and decides how to carry out the war. From here he authorizes the use of the weapons that will one day haunt the world during the Cold War, and dictates how Japan will be allowed to surrender. Douglas MacArthur is based elsewhere throughout the book, and occasionally attempts to act as though he is above Washington’s decision-making, but Washington, through Truman, eventually asserts authority by choosing the bombings over MacArthur’s invasion. This repeats itself in the post-script, as Washington (Truman) removes MacArthur from his position...