In February, concerns were raised about the veracity of one of Charles Pellegrino’s sources in his new book The Last Train From Hiroshima: The Survivors Look Back, which documents the experiences of Japanese blast survivors as well as the American flight crews that dropped the atomic bomb. Joseph Fuoco (now-deceased) claimed to be a last-minute substitution on the flight crew of one of two escort planes accompanying the Enola Gay during its fateful mission on Aug. 6, 1945. But, Fuoco’s account of the bombing and his claim that an accident while readying the weapon killed an American scientist and weakened the bomb’s power, have been vehemently denied by historians and the surviving flight crew members. The Seattle Times reports that evidence has come to light that proves flight engineer, James Corliss, actually flew in the escort plane, not Fuoco. Though, it is possible that he did participate in reconnaissance flights over Hiroshima before and after the blast.

Pellegrino had initially planned to re-write the sections dealing with Fuoco’s accounts for the foreign and paperback editions of the book. But on Monday, his publisher Henry Holt & Co. announced that it would withdrawal the book altogether. In addition to the issues with airman’s claims, questions have been raised about the existence of another source in the book, and even the author’s credentials as a PhD. Before the controversy, critical buzz was very positive for The Last Train From Hiroshima, and Avatar director James Cameron had optioned the book for a motion picture. Ironically, all the negative publicity surrounding the book’s fallacies has increased sales, and the title is quickly climbing up the ranks on Amazon.com.

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