by Jesse Garon

The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb
Gar Alperowitz (Alfred A. Knopf, $32.50)

Knopf marks the 50th anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki with the publication of Gar Alperowitz's The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb. Alperowitz, who has written on the subject for more than three decades, served as a major consultant on several television documentaries, including the recent ABC News special hosted by Peter Jennings. In this heavy, authoritative book (almost 700 pages of main text, with more than 100 pages of footnotes), he clears away some of the myths that surround the use of the atomic bombs and the end of World War II.

Alperowitz's research indicates that the Japanese were prepared to surrender before the atomic bombs were used. Numerous military and civilian advisers counseled President Truman that the bombs were not needed, according to Alperowitz, but Truman rejected proposals that would allow the Japanese government to clarify their terms of surrender. He was instead persuaded by the eventual secretary of state, James Byrnes, to use the bomb to demonstrate its effectiveness, as a warning to the Soviets, the book asserts. Whatever your position may be on the morality of the use of the bomb in 1945, Alperowitz's account will give you a better understanding of why the people who made that decision chose to act the way they did.

The Origins of the Inquisition in Fifteenth Century Spain
B. Netanyahu (Random House, $50.00)

In more 1100 pages of material, one of the world's leading authorities on the history of Spanish Jews and Marranos (people of Jewish ancestry whose ancestors were forced to convert to Christianity around the beginning of the 15th century), takes on the Spanish Inquisition. Why did the Spanish government and the Catholic Church decide to attack the Marranos beginning in 1480? Was it because, as they claimed, the Marranos had only superficially converted to the Christian faith, and were still practicing Jewish rites in secret? Or were there motives that were more political than religious that led to the Inquisition?

Professor Netanyahu's thesis posits that high-ranking Spanish officials crafted a deliberate policy labelling Jews as an inferior race, in order to remove them from positions of power in the royal court, and that the royal family allowed the persecution to take place in part because it drew attention away from the shakiness of their command of Spain. Although the book can be daunting at times, the prose presents the story in a clear and precise manner . Readers may be overwhelmed by the sheer volume of this book, but not by any difficulty in understanding Netanyahu's text.