Contents:Introduction : the most controversial decision -- Franklin Roosevelt, the Manhattan Project, and the development of the atomic bomb -- Harry Truman, Henry Stimson, and atomic briefings -- James F. Byrnes, the atomic bomb, and the Pacific War -- The Potsdam Conference, the Trinity test, and 'atomic diplomacy' -- Hiroshima, the Japanese, and the Soviets -- The Japanese surrender -- Necessary, but was It right? -- Byrnes, the Soviets, and the American atomic monopoly -- The atomic bomb and the origins of the Cold War.