The Atomic Bomb: A Very Short Introduction — Joseph Siracusa

Siracusa traces the history of the atomic bomb from the Manhattan Project through Hiroshima and Nagasaki to the Cold War arms race and the politics of nuclear deterrence. The book is deliberately concise, but does not sacrifice the key questions — whether the bombs were militarily necessary, how the decision to use them was made, and what the nuclear age has meant for international order. A clear introduction to a subject where the historical debate remains genuinely unresolved.