The Doctor of Hiroshima

His heart-breaking and inspiring true life story

Dr. Michihiko Hachiya

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English

Little Brown
27 February 2024

Biography; Memoirs; True stories of heroism, endurance & survival; Asian history; Second World War; Medical profession

'The Doctor of Hiroshima is lucid, uniquely insightful, and suffused in Dr Hachiya's profound humanity, hope and dedication.' -LoveReading

With what this poor woman had been through the sight of her crying tore at my heartstrings. What if something should happen to her; who would care for her little baby? To conceal the fear and terror in my heart I left her, trying to put up a cheerful front. But no one could conceal from her the ominous import of the dark spots that had appeared on her chest.

The Doctor of Hiroshima is the extraordinary true story of Dr Michihiko Hachiya, whose hospital was less than a mile from the centre of the atomic bomb that hit on that warm August day. In immense shock and pain, he and his wife Yaeko dragged themselves to the devastated hospital building and what colleagues they could find.

In time, they begin to heal, and start to treat the impossible numbers of patients - a small girl covered in burns, an elderly man with pneumonia, a young boy and his little sister looking for their parents. They also began to investigate the strange unexplainable symptoms afflicting his patients - things he never dreamed he would see...

Told simply and poignantly in Dr Hachiya's own words, The Doctor of Hiroshima is a unique and deeply moving human story of survival about a small, committed band of hospital staff in the face of unthinkable destruction and loss.

By: Dr. Michihiko Hachiya
Imprint: Little Brown
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 216mm, Width: 135mm,
ISBN: 9781800961500
ISBN 10: 1800961502
Pages: 256
Publication Date: 27 February 2024
Audience: General/trade , College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , ELT Advanced , Primary
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Dr. Michihiko Hachiya was Director of the Hiroshima Communications Hospital when the world's first atomic bomb was dropped on the city. After the bomb, he continued as Director there for several years before taking on a teaching role at Okayama University Medical School. He retired in Okayama and passed away in the 1980s.

Reviews for The Doctor of Hiroshima: His heart-breaking and inspiring true life story

One of the most extraordinary records of human calamity and courage in the history of letters. * Newsweek * Comes closer to telling the real story than anything I have seen outside of Japan. * Norman Cousins * I have read it through as a sitting... It is a simple and unpretentious account of compassion, sorrow, and great courage. * Robert Oppenheimer * A book that we all ought to read in order that we may know what we have done and what will happen in the future if the atomic weapons continue to be used. * Pearl Buck, author of The Good Earth *