History lesson

Deak Parsons assembled the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in the aircraft
while on the way to Japan. It had to be done this way because of the danger of a
crash on take-off with a primed bomb on board, with consequent catastrophe or
“cook-out”. Parsons, who hailed from rural New Mexico, was a Navy technical
officer and a high-ranking member of the Los Alamos team, which he joined after
leading the successful development of the proximity fuse for anti-aircraft
artillery shells. Eventually an admiral, but relatively unsung, he is done
justice in Al Christman’s comprehensive and readable biography, Target
Hiroshima. Published by Naval Institute Press, £17.58, ISBN
1557501203.