This is CBS Eye on the World with John Batchelor. Here's John Batchelor.

Continuing with Evan Thomas, the distinguished author, his new book is Road to Surrender.

Three men and the countdown to the end of the Second World War. We're in Potsdam, Germany,

the gathering of the men and the governments that have defeated the Hitlerite machine. They're

gathering not only for the future of Europe, but also to discuss not incidentally the end of the Pacific War, which is still raging.

Hundreds of thousands are dying every month, according to the reading of a new book,

Road to Surrender, Three Men in the Countdown to the End of the World War II by Evan Thomas.

Why this is important is because the atomic bombs are on the minds of everybody at

the Potsdam meeting. Harry Truman is in attendance. Joseph Stalin is in attendance. Winston Churchill

is there and then Atlee after the election is there. It weighs on them variously. Churchill knows about it. Truman knows about it.

And unknown to Churchill and Truman, Stalin knows about it from his spies. Evan at Potsdam is

difficult to say exactly how Truman thought of this meeting. What was striking to me was your

reporting that Truman did not

invite Henry Stimson to come along to Potsdam. Later on, Stimson appealed to the president.

What if I pay my own way and bring along my assistance? And that's how Stimson attended Potsdam.

Why didn't the president want Stimson with him when he

met, when he was meeting with Stalin and Churchill? Harry Truman was closer to another Paul than he was

to Stimson. We mentioned that Stimson and, and Truman come from quite different worlds.

Truman's friend, or rather ally in the Senate, was Burns, who was the incoming Secretary of State.

And Burns was a very, was a pall, was a smart pal, a pretty tough, mighty guy.

And Burns did not want to have any negotiations with the Japanese.

He wanted to drop this bomb, partly because he wanted to scare the Russians.

...