Countdown 1945: The Extraordinary Story of the Atomic Bomb and the 116 Days That Changed the World, a book authored by Chris Wallace, anchor of Fox News Sunday, is available for purchase June 9. The book looks at the 116 days between President Franklin D. Roosevelt dying, which saw VP Harry Truman move up to president, and Truman deciding to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima.
“Chris Wallace, the veteran journalist and anchor of Fox News Sunday, takes readers inside the minds of the iconic and elusive figures who join the quest for the bomb, each for different reasons: the legendary Albert Einstein, who eventually calls his vocal support for the atomic bomb “the one great mistake in my life”; lead researcher J. Robert “Oppie” Oppenheimer and the Soviet spies who secretly infiltrate his team; the fiercely competitive pilots of the plane selected to drop the bomb; and many more,” goes the press materials. “Perhaps most of all, Countdown 1945 is the story of an untested new president confronting a decision that he knows will change the world forever.”
Wallace aimed to write a book that he described as “a deep dive on a key moment in American history,” and one that reads like a novel. “All true, absolutely solidly researched, but it would have the feel of an adventure story,” he said.
The idea for the book came to Wallace while in the Capitol, a guest of Nancy Pelosi’s.
