Published by the Hogarth Press in 1970 and clearly not a book on mathematics or science. I read this soon after it was published so I would have been 14 or 15. The book influences the way that I think down to the present day. Laurens van der Post is a renowned author who wrote many books on Africa (and I have read them all as I am an explorer at heart.) In this book the author details how he was a guest on an un-named talk show. The earlier guest was a survivor of Hiroshima and he detailed what a tragedy it had been for Japan. van der Post agrees that it was a tragedy, but as a POW for three-and-a-half years in Java, the use of the atom bomb was his salvation. He and his fellow prisoners were at a low ebb and would not have lasted much longer. You should read it - it was also sold as The Prisoner and the Bomb. The book was written after the TV appearance - he talked of his experiences rather than his planned talk about Africa.
It continues to influence me because it taught me to find out all sides to a story before coming to a conclusion. I won't retell the story, but I will note that it is the probable source for many stories of prisoner of war camp stories that appeared after it was written. It is not the source for Bridge over the River Kwai - that was a 1952 book by Pierre Boule and was a work of fiction. Looking at some of the shared elements, it seems reasonable that Boule talked to van der Post or some of his contemporaries.
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