Grappling with the Bomb

Details

ISBN (print):

9781760461379

ISBN (online):

9781760461386

Publication date:

Sep 2017

Imprint:

ANU Press

DOI:

http://doi.org/10.22459/GB.09.2017

Series:

Pacific Series

Disciplines:

Social Sciences: Military & Defence Studies

Countries:

Europe: United Kingdom; Pacific: Kiribati

PDF Chapters

Grappling with the Bomb »

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• Preliminary pages (PDF, 0.3MB)
• List of illustrations (PDF, 0.1MB)
• Timeline and glossary (PDF, 0.2MB)
• Maps (PDF, 0.3MB)
• Introduction (PDF, 0.2MB)

1. The leader—Sir Winston Churchill (PDF, 0.4MB)
2. The survivors—Lemeyo Abon and Rinok Riklon (PDF, 0.3MB)
3. The fisherman—Matashichi Oishi (PDF, 0.2MB)
4. The Task Force Commander—Wilfred Oulton (PDF, 0.4MB)
5. The businessman—James Burns (PDF, 0.3MB)
6. The pacifist—Harold Steele (PDF, 0.3MB)

• Interlude—On radiation, safety and secrecy (PDF, 0.3MB)

7. The Chief Petty Officer—Ratu Inoke Bainimarama (PDF, 0.4MB)
8. The sailor—Paul Ah Poy (PDF, 0.3MB)
9. The high chief—Ratu Penaia Ganilau (PDF, 0.4MB)
10. The WVS ladies—Mary and Billie Burgess (PDF, 0.3MB)
11. The pilot—Geoffrey Dhenin (PDF, 0.2MB)
12. The Prime Minister—Harold Macmillan (PDF, 0.3MB)
13. The Foreign Officer—Gillian Brown (PDF, 0.3MB)
14. The telegraphist—Roy Sefton (PDF, 0.5MB)
15. The soldiers—Isireli Qalo (PDF, 0.3MB)
16. The Banaban—Tekoti Rotan (PDF, 0.4MB)
17. The mothers—Sui Kiritome (PDF, 0.4MB)
18. The last soldiers—Josefa Vueti (PDF, 0.3MB)
19. The President—John F. Kennedy (PDF, 0.3MB)

• Interlude—Contested illnesses (PDF, 0.2MB)

20. The research scientist—Al Rowland (PDF, 0.4MB)
21. The litigant—Pita Rokoratu (PDF, 0.3MB)
22. The Rear Admiral—Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama (PDF, 0.3MB)

• Aftermath (PDF, 0.1MB)
• Acknowledgements (PDF, 0.1MB)
• Bibliography (PDF, 0.2MB)
• Index (PDF, 0.1MB)

Reviews

The author has made excellent use of his journalistic background, and has added the skills of a historical writer and researcher to produce a work that is readable and effective, a valuable source of information, and a potent plea for justice.
—Elizabeth A. Willis, Medicine, Conflict and Survival Vol 34(2), 13 June 2018
The full review can been read on the Medicine, Conflict and Survival website

Grappling with the Bomb provides the missing detail and the human-level story of arguably the most shadowy of all the British major atomic weapons tests. Even if people know a bit about Maralinga, or about the American and French tests in the Pacific, they are unlikely to know that the British also used the Pacific for testing nuclear weapons. The voices of those affected have never been raised to sufficient volume for the public to hear. Maclellan’s book redresses that injustice and provides a vivid and well-researched account of a deeply troubling history and the people who suffered from what was done. It is an admirable addition to the growing accounts of the British nuclear tests.
— Elizabeth Tynan, State Crime Journal, Vol 7(1), Spring 2018
The full review can be read on the JSTOR website

As a journalist and researcher, Maclellan weaves an anachronic, polemic narrative through fact and interpretive journalistic storytelling.
—Jessie Boylan, The Journal of Pacific History, Vol 53(3) 2018
The full review can been read on the Taylor and Francis website

In this informative and accessible book, journalist Nic Maclellan investigates this brief but important period of Britain’s nuclear past. A study that emphasizes the human story while exploring the technical, scientific, economic, political, and military aspects of the tests, Maclellan’s history marshals multiple forms of evidence against a persistent “culture of secrecy” surrounding these events.
—Roxanne Panchasi, Canadian Journal of History, Vol 53(3), 2018
The full review can been read on the University of Toronto Press website