This is John Batchel, a conversation with Evan Thomas, author of Road to Surrender,

three men in the countdown to the end of the World War II.

One of the men is Togo, the Prime Minister of Japan, dealing with the emperor.

After the dropping of the atomic bomb, the first atomic weapon on Hiroshima,

the emperor began to recalculate and seek peace. Here, Evan Thomas

gives the motive for this. It's very straightforward, very human. Irohito is the emperor of Japan.

He is complicit in the launching of the war and the expectation of taking advantage of victory.

And here he is facing defeat.

How does he survive?

How does the empire survive?

How do the people in Tokyo and Japan survive?

Questions?

Here's Evan Thomas to explain.

More of this later tonight.

By after the bombing of Hiroshima, although the army is in denial and doesn't even want

to believe it is an atomic bomb, the emperor is starting to come around.

He's mad at the military because they're not being straightforward with him, and his own court

is telling him that 100 hundred thousand people have died in

Hiroshima and the emperor starts to see whoa you know the next bomb could be coming for me

for for the palace he's not totally wrong about that and so he wants to push up the diplomacy

with Russia you know get this done he by then he he wants peace. He's on, he's on

Togo's side by then. But the wheels are turning here, and the next day, the second bomb hits

...