 Hyde made Southern Cross to express his anger at American nuclear tests in the Bikini Atoll in 1946 following the atomic bombings in Japan . He worked on it from 1948 to 1951 . Each image is 4 by 3 inches ( 10 @.@ 2 cm × 7 @.@ 6 cm ) , centred at the top third of the page and with broad margins . The one exception is of the bomb detonating , a 7 in × 6 in ( 18 cm × 15 cm ) full @-@ page image that bleeds off the page . Hyde carved dynamic curving lines uncommon in wood engraving . Blacks overwhelms the figures they surround , and abstract images contrast with realistic detail in the flora and fauna . 
