The atomic bombings that ended World War II remain controversial, both in the USA and Japan. As their 50th anniversaries near, the debate is intensifying. Some Americans argue they were not necessary especially the second one, at Nagasaki, because Japan was already defeated. Others say that the Japanese otherwise would have defended their islands to the last, resulting in at least a million Japanese and Allied casualties. Some Japanese, on the other hand, still coming to grips with their country"s militarist past, consider Truman"s actions the moral equivalent of the attack on Pearl Harbour. The bombings" 50th anniversary in August 1995 should receive widespread media attention. The authors have gathered together over 400 photographs of the two cities and their people, before and after those fateful days. Donald M. Goldstein and Katherine V. Dillon are the authors of "God"s Samurai" and, with Gordon Prange, "At Dawn We Slept", "Miracle at Midway", "December 7 1941", "Pearl Harbor: The Verdict of History" and "Target Tokyo". J. Michael Wenger is the co-author of "D-Day Normandy" and "Nuts! The Battle of the Bulge".