John Hersey's "Hiroshima"

Hiroshima follows the lives of six residents of Hiroshima, the moments before and days, months and years after the Atomic Blast that destroyed the city on August 6, 1945, at 8:15 am. These people vary in age, education, financial status, and employment. Employment ranges from doctors (Dr. Masakazu Fujii and Dr. Terufumi Sasaki), personnel clerk (Miss Toshiko Sasaki), a priest (Father Wilhelm), and a reverend (Mr. Kiyohi Tanimoto). The book begins moments before the blast would occur giving …

…more than a million. Tall modern buildings on tree-lined avenues would evolve within a city where only one in ten was a hibakusha. I believe the sentiments of almost all Hiroshima was described best by Toshiko Sasaki when she said, "I shall not dwell on the past. It is as if I had been given a spare life when I survived the A-bomb. But I prefer not to look back, I shall keep moving forward".