The Hiroshima Pilot by William Bradford Huie

The Hiroshima Pilot is William Bradford Huie’s investigation into the strange case of Major Claude Eatherly. This is the first UK edition, published by William Heinemann in London in 1964.

Eatherly flew the weather reconnaissance aircraft that scouted Hiroshima ahead of the Enola Gay in August 1945, signalling that conditions were clear for the bomb.

In the years after the war he was in and out of psychiatric hospitals and in trouble with the law. He became famous around the world as the guilt-ridden pilot of Hiroshima. Ban-the-Bomb groups adopted him as a symbol, and writers in Europe and Japan called him “the American Dreyfus”.

Huie, the author of The Execution of Private Slovik, set out to establish the truth. The Hiroshima Pilot examines Eatherly’s service record, the press coverage and his correspondence, and argues that much of the legend was myth. The book drew strong reactions from reviewers in Britain, including Malcolm Muggeridge and The Observer.

The Hiroshima Pilot will appeal to readers of Second World War and aviation history, and to anyone interested in the atomic bomb, the anti-nuclear movement and the power of the press to build a legend.

Condition – Very Good

This copy of The Hiroshima Pilot is a hardcover in very dark blue, almost black, cloth with gilt titling to the spine, and is in very good condition. There is an ink inscription on the front endpaper. The text is otherwise clean, with no defects noted. The dust jacket is complete, with all pieces present, but has a tear to the front panel and is quite worn around the edges, with small chips and creasing.