To mark the anniversary of the dropping of the first nuclear bomb, the Pacifica Radio Archives helped arrange a dramatic reading of Hersey’s classic work. Democracy Now! broadcasts an excerpt looking at the story of Dr. Sasaki, one of the few doctors to survive the attack. In addition DN! televises original video footage — once classified by the U.S. government — of the horrific aftermath.

Today we play an excerpt of a new radio adaptation of John Hersey’s Hiroshima, the most famous work of the Pulitzer Prize winning novelist and reporter.

The book gives an account of the 1945 bombing of Hiroshima told from the perspective of six survivors. The book is written in a stark, objective voice that manages to be precise and all the more vivid for its understatement of events. Hiroshima has long been established as one of the classic accounts of the Second World War.

• Radio Adaption of John Hersey’s Hiroshima, excerpt looks at the impact of the nuclear attack on Dr. Sasaki, one of the few doctors who survived.