Focusing on the American home from between V-E Day and V-J Day, Chappell assesses public opinion about the continuing Pacific war, the extent to which that opinion differed from government perceptions, and how government officials responded to it.... [Chappell] offers thorough research and convincing conclusions.
"The subjects in this book are important and provocative." American Historical Review
"The subjects in this book are important and provocative. One of the most important findings in this book is the deep desire of Americans to resume their lives and to enjoy a prosperity that they had been denied by the Depression and World War II." American Historical Review
"This is a fascinating study, based on a wealth of research in the American media and in public and private archives." American Studies
"Focusing on the American home from between V-E Day and V-J Day, Chappell assesses public opinion about the continuing Pacific war, the extent to which that opinion differed from government perceptions, and how government officials responded to it.... [Chappell] offers thorough research and convincing conclusions." Choice
"This monograph does not purport to be a study of all the reasons for dropping the bomb, but it succeeds in bringing many long-obscured American voices back into the debate over whether the Pacific War needed to end with the use of nuclear weapons." Indiana History Magazine
"[Chappell's] consultation of major African American publications reveals that they focused primarily on the ongoing racial struggle in the United States, though they also provide fascinating examples of an all-too-rare evaluation of the racial overtones of the Pacific War." Library Journal
"Chappell has done an outstanding job of extensive research and prepared a good analysis in his scholarly account of just how America approached the end of the Pacific War." Military History of the West
"Compelling and controversial, Before the Bomb examines the confusing and contradictory climate of the American home front in the months leading up to V-J Day. Before the Bomb is a critically important contribution to our understanding of wartime and post-wartime politics." Reviewer's Bookwatch
"Chronicles a gradual unraveling of support for the war following the Allied victory in Europe on May 8, 1945, that persisted until the dropping of the atomic bombs three months later on Hiroshima and Nagasaki." Southern Historian