Wilson D. Miscamble, C.S.C., has taught at Notre Dame for more than two decades. He is the author or editor of numerous books, including George F. Kennan and the Making of American Foreign Policy, 1947–1950 (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1992) and the prize-winning From Roosevelt to Truman: Potsdam, Hiroshima, and the Cold War (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007). Decision is in some ways a distillation of the latter volume but stands on its own as a valuable contribution to the literature. Based on an impressive amount of research and gracefully written, it should be read by anyone interested in the subject and is particularly suitable for the classroom.
Only a few of the book's many virtues can be mentioned in a brief review. Most authors, naturally emphasizing the subject of nuclear bombs and relations with the Soviet Union, leave the impression that President Harry S. Truman and Secretary...