This book is a collection of essays about the atomic bomb. The work covers five topics: the development of the atomic bomb, the decision to drop the bomb, the immediate aftermath of the bomb, the Cold War, and evaluations of the bomb by scientists. An epilogue discusses the controversy surrounding the cancelled Enola Gay exhibit fifty years after the dropping of the bombs. Scientists, journalists, and people who experienced the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki wrote the essays. The book includes an appendix with excerpts of original documents about the atomic bomb, as well as a chronology, a glossary, discussion questions, and a list of suggested references for further study.