Books like The atomic bomb and the end of World War II by Herbert Feis

An exhaustive account of the discovery, design, and deployment of the atomic bomb, tracing its rapid development from early nuclear science to the Manhattan Project and the first bombings of Japan.

Digging deep into the archival record among formerly secret technical reports, Rose examines early thinking about the atomic bomb not only on the German side but also among Allied scientists. He finds that the early history of fission bomb physics had no shortage of false starts and fumbles in both camps. But, whereas the Allied physicists' ideas crystallized into a realistic prospect for a bomb toward the end of 1940. Heisenberg's basic misconceptions persisted, influencing the German leaders not to push for atomic weapons. In fact, Heisenberg never had to face the moral problem of whether he should design an actual bomb for the Nazi regime. Rose's exploration of the German mentality that made it quite reasonable for "unpolitical" scientists to support the regime in power, whatever its form, shows the extent to which Heisenberg and others could devote themselves to research they regarded as patriotic.

Paul Ham’s history examines the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings, arguing that the use of nuclear weapons had little effect on the Pacific War’s outcome and raising ethical questions about their deployment.