On August 6, 1945, a revolutionary new weapon destroyed Hiroshima, a
Japanese city of 300,000 inhabitants. Three days later, a second atomic bomb
was dropped on Nagasaki. America’s secret super-weapon was lauded for
bringing about victory in the Pacific and ending World War II. President Truman’s
official announcement included half-truths that shaped the government’s official
narrative: “Sixteen hours ago, an American airplane dropped one bomb on
Hiroshima, an important Japanese army base.” In fact, the bomb was aimed at
Hiroshima’s city center for maximum psychological effect; the army base on its
outskirts escaped much damage.

Eighty years after the devastating atomic bombings that ushered in the nuclear
age, Bombshell explores how the U.S. government sought to manipulate the
facts about the Manhattan Project and the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Through propaganda, censorship and the co-opting of the press, the government
presented a benevolent picture of atomic power, minimizing the horrific human
toll. Bombshell sheds light on the efforts of a group of intrepid reporters to let the
world know the truth.