Barefoot Gen: Writing the truth

One of the earliest Japanese manga titles to be published in the West, here is the bombing of Hiroshima, seen through the eyes of the artist as a young boy growing up in Japan and told as a graphic narrative. This edition is an unabridged new translation of the author's first-person experiences which follows the original story's subsequent development into a 10 book series. Volume one: the events leading up to and immediately following the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Volume two: three survivors of the bombing of Hiroshima (Gen, his mother and baby sister) struggle for food, water, and shelter amid chaos and vast human suffering. Volume three: Gen and his mother continue to face rejection, hunger, and humiliation in their search for a place to live. Volume four: 9 days after the bomb and though confronted with the most despicable aspects of humankind, Gen acts with love and compassion. Volume five: focuses on the ethical dilemmas faced by a peace-loving family in a highly militarized culture. Volume six: 'Papa,' the journalist who serves as a father figure to Gen's war orphan friends, writes an eyewitness account of the bombing. Volume seven: Gen, grown old enough to think about the legacy of the victims of the atomic bombing searches for a printer willing to publish Papa's novel. Gen and Ryuta manage to get the book printed and distributed, only to arouse the wrath of U.S. Army censors, who teach them a hard lesson about the politics of memory. Meanwhile, Gen's brother Koji returns home at last, only to find that their mother is on her deathbed. Volume eight: opening in 1950, Gen is now in middle school, where he meets both a progressive-minded schoolteacher at odds with his conservative superiors, and a brilliant but cynical classmate who challenges the teacher's - and Gen's - values at every turn. Gen also finds himself confronting the corrosive effects of drugs and the arms industry on postwar Hiroshima society. With the Korean War offering new business opportunities, a new generation of death merchants holds sway in Japan. Gen, his mentor, and peace-minded citizens are forced to struggle against red-baiting school officials, violent nationalists, and government censorship -- from publisher statements.