Two Men Ten Suns

Two young men, one American and one Japanese, battle their personal demons to win the first nuclear arms race. One man is driven by grief and hatred, the other by pride and ambition. Doubts plague both men, but neither can stop as their governments push them to develop the deadliest weapon.

Only now is information about this desperate competition creeping out of history’s dark corners. Some historians believe Japanese scientists had kept pace with those of the Manhattan Project and were ready to test. Did a handful of the world’s most powerful men bury all evidence that Truman dropped the bomb to beat Japan to the punch?

History has criticized Truman’s decision. “It saved half a million G.I.s” was the administration’s mantra. Yet, the United States could not have marshaled adequate troops and materiel for an invasion of Japan until five months after Germany’s May 8th surrender. In that time, continued allied bombing and blockades could have pounded the Japanese into submission.

Perhaps Truman knew a deadly clock was ticking as he gave the order to destroy Hiroshima. If intelligence had warned him Japan was close to using their Genzai Bakudan (atomic bomb) on an American city, he could not have risked delay.

Two Men, Ten Suns is a gripping fictional account of this perilous episode.