To Hell and Back: The Last Train from Hiroshima by Charles Pellegrino

To Hell and Back: The Last Train from Hiroshima by Charles Pellegrino


                I had never read a historical nonfiction account of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I am elated that the first time I am able to dive into the history of what happened, it is with To Hell and Back: The Last Train from Hiroshima. Pellegrino did an amazing job telling the stories of these survivors and everyone involved in the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
This book was well researched and beautifully executed. Pellegrino has a very simple, matter of fact narrative style that allowed for the history to simply unfold. He went over the facts of what happened explaining the technicalities of the uranium and plutonium bombs with ease. He explained what happened to those at Ground Zero of both sites sparing no details so that readers could capture and understand just how horrifying and disastrous the events were. Pellegrino was unbiased when depicting everyone’s story from those in Japan who weren’t acknowledging just how serious the attacks were, to the pilots flying the planes that would deliver the atomic bombs, to those who survived the attacks and were treated as outsiders. Pellegrino throughout this book respected the seriousness of the tragedy and as part of that respect, spared no detail.

To Hell and Back: The Last Train from Hiroshima may be one of the best historical, nonfiction books I have ever read. I’m walking away from this book an educated individual on the subject with more empathy than I ever thought imaginable for those whose lives were affected. Pellegrino did an amazing job telling this story without any bias, simply allowing the voices of everyone to be heard, their stories and experiences told and the information communicated. This book easily receives a 5 out of 5 stars from me and a high level of recommendation.

Thank you Netgalley for the advanced review copy in exchange for an honest review. 

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