Truman's decision to use atomic weapons has long been a controversial topic in the decades following its use. Many scholars and people surrounding the president at the time published memoirs and books about the decision to use the weapon. As the years passed, other writings and information were published that added more to the vast knowledge we have of the decision to drop the bomb and what the Japanese faced after the event took place. J. Samuel Walker wrote a book called Prompt and Utter Destruction that uses new knowledge gained about the bomb and new information released by the Japanese, which Walker says "has greatly enriched our understanding of Tokyo's painful deliberations on ending the war" ( ix ).Walker took no position in the book, however, he uses material from the first book and new sources of information to evaluate why President Truman made his decision. The main goal of Walker's book is to answer why President Truman used the atomic bombs against Japan and open up more discussion on the question of "was the bomb militarily necessary or was it used primarily for political/diplomatic reasons that had more to do with the Soviet impression than that?". win the war against Japan?” (xii), which Walker called the issue “specialists divided” (xii). Throughout Walker's book, he focuses on President Truman's choice to use the atomic bomb on Japan, Truman's advisors who were General George C. Marshall and Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson agreed that the bomb was necessary. President Truman believed the bomb was necessary to spare “the lives of hundreds of thousands of American soldiers” (4). The book points out that Truman never had a “categorical choice” (5) when he chose to use the……medium of paper……and forever next to the bomb. On the Japanese side they rejected the Potsdam Declaration. Truman gave the Japanese the option to accept the declaration. I admired the United States for giving the warning. Walker covered a bit of post-World War II history, but I'm particularly interested in the environmental effect of Hiroshima and how Japan rebuilt itself after the bomb. I think he missed this aspect when he wrote the book. My final opinion is that the first bomb was necessary and I thought being in American hands was the best thing to have at the time. I think the second bomb was unnecessary and I also blame the Americans for not allowing enough time for the Japanese to surrender. The Japanese downplayed the destruction of the bomb and I think that was a flaw. Finally, I thought the book should have talked more about the post-war period and the effects on both sides.