A Publishers Weekly BookLife Selection for the November 2020 Spotlight  

“On 1 July 1946 by the Bikini calendar (30 June in New York), millions of people around the world waited anxiously by their radios for the results of Test Able. No one knew what to expect,” writes William L. McGee in his naval memoir, Operation Crossroads, Lest We Forget! An Eyewitness Account, Bikini Atomic Bomb Tests 1946.

In the summer of 1946, McGee was one of the 42,000 military, scientists, and civilian personnel assembled at the remote Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands. The objective: to conduct postwar testing of the atomic bomb on wartime vessels, equipment, and animals. Code name: Operation CROSSROADS.

In the words of Vice Admiral W. H. P. Blandy, USN, Commander of Joint Task Force One for Operation Crossroads: “In the face of this new knowledge, these recently discovered truths concerning the atom, so suddenly thrust upon an already chaotic world, not only warfare but civilization itself literally stands at the Crossroads. Hence the name of this Operation.”

Bill McGee had a front row seat from aboard the USS Fall River (CA-131), Target Vessel Control Ship for the Target Fleet. The relatively new heavy cruiser was responsible for positioning the 95 target vessels in the Bikini Lagoon for three atomic tests: Test Able from the air on 1 July; Test Baker from underwater on 25 July; Test Charlie, the site and date to be determined later.

"A sobering, but entertaining read.” – Mark Barnes, War History Online

In his signature journalistic style, McGee provides his personal account in a slim memoir:

• The Fall River’s four-month voyage from Norfolk, Virginia to the Bikini Atoll
• The plans and preparations for Tests Able and Baker
• The Queen Day and William Day rehearsals 
• Reproductions of the Fall River ship log
• Interview excerpts with Fall River shipmates and other Crossroads participants
• The early opinions of the media and military
• The later opinions of Crosswords experts, who address the deadly effects of ionizing radiation
• The fate of the USS Fall River (CA-131) after Crossroads

About the Author
Award-winning World War II Pacific war historian William L. McGee has written 22 books, including five WWII Pacific war histories and five memoirs.  He is a veteran of World War II in the Pacific and an atomic veteran of Operation Crossroads.

His writing career has spanned six decades and his writing style has been described as journalistic and “as precise and economical as a Mickey Spillane novel.” (Marine Corps League Magazine)

Awards / Recognition
Pacific Express: The Critical Role of Military Logistics in World War II
On the Marine Corps Commandant's Professional Reading List

The Solomons Campaigns, 1942-1943: From Guadalcanal to Bougainville
Winner of the Silver Medal for History from the Military Writers Society of America