Nuclear weapons Books

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Book SynopsisAnnie Jacobsen the bestselling author of Nuclear War: A Scenario, which was shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize. A 2016 Pulitzer Prize finalist, her other books include Area 51, Operation Paperclip and Surprise, Kill, Vanish, and have been translated into 26 languages. She also writes and produces TV, including Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan. A graduate of Princeton University, she lives in Los Angeles with her husband and their two sons.

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Book SynopsisCommand and Control interweaves the minute-by-minute story of an accident at a missile silo in rural Arkansas, where a single crew struggled to prevent the explosion of the most powerful nuclear warhead ever built by the United States, with a historical narrative that spans more than fifty years. It depicts the urgent effort to ensure that nuclear weapons can''t be stolen, sabotaged, used without permission, or detonated inadvertently. Schlosser also looks at the Cold War from a new perspective, offering history from the ground up, telling the stories of bomber pilots, missile commanders, maintenance crews, and other ordinary servicemen who risked their lives to avert a nuclear holocaust. Drawing on recently declassified documents and interviews with men who designed and routinely handled nuclear weapons, Command and Control takes readers into a terrifying but fascinating world that, until now, has been largely hidden from view.Trade ReviewSo damnably readable. It drives the vision of a world trembling on the edge of a fatal precipice deep into your mind ... a piece of work of the deepest import, with the multilayered density of an ambitiously conceived novel -- John Lloyd * Financial Times *Do you really want to read about the thermonuclear warheads that are still aimed at the city where you live? Do you really need to know about the appalling security issues that have dogged nuclear weapons in the 70 years since their invention? Yes, you do. In Schlosser's hands it is a reading treat ... he's a natural genius -- Jonathan Franzen * Guardian, Books of the Year *Part techno-thriller, part careful historical investigation ... beautifully written and impressively researched -- Gerard DeGroot * Daily Telegraph *Brilliant, gripping, chilling -- Steven Shapin * London Review of Books *The author of Fast Food Nation does for the American nuclear industry what he did for industrial food production * Economist, Books of the Year *Eric Schlosser detonates a truth bomb in Command and Control * Vanity Fair *Deeply reported, deeply frightening . . . a techno-thriller of the first order * Los Angeles Times *An excellent journalistic investigation of the efforts made since the first atomic bomb was exploded, outside Alamogordo, New Mexico, on July 16, 1945, to put some kind of harness on nuclear weaponry. By a miracle of information management, Schlosser has synthesized a huge archive of material, including government reports, scientific papers, and a substantial historical and polemical literature on nukes, and transformed it into a crisp narrative covering more than fifty years of scientific and political change. And he has interwoven that narrative with a hair-raising, minute-by-minute account of an accident at a Titan II missile silo in Arkansas, in 1980, which he renders in the manner of a techno-thriller . . . Command and Control is how nonfiction should be written -- Louis Menand * The New Yorker *A devastatingly lucid and detailed new history of nuclear weapons in the U.S. . . . fascinating -- Lev Grossman * Time *Command and Control ranks among the most nightmarish books written in recent years; and in that crowded company it bids fair to stand at the summit. It is the more horrific for being so incontrovertibly right and so damnably readable. Page after relentless page, it drives the vision of a world trembling on the edge of a fatal precipice deep into your reluctant mind . . . a work with the multilayered density of an ambitiously conceived novel . . . Schlosser has done what journalism does at its best when at full stretch: he has spent time - years - researching, interviewing, understanding and reflecting to give us a piece of work of the deepest import * Financial Times *Perilous and gripping . . . Schlosser skillfully weaves together an engrossing account of both the science and the politics of nuclear weapons safety . . . The story of the missile silo accident unfolds with the pacing, thrill and techno details of an episode of 24 * San Francisco Chronicle *Disquieting but riveting . . . fascinating . . . Schlosser's readers (and he deserves a great many) will be struck by how frequently the people he cites attribute the absence of accidental explosions and nuclear war to divine intervention or sheer luck rather than to human wisdom and skill. Whatever was responsible, we will clearly need many more of it in the years to come * New York Times Book Review *Easily the most unsettling work of nonfiction I've ever read, Schlosser's six-year investigation of America's 'broken arrows' (nuclear weapons mishaps) is by and large historical-this stuff is top secret, after all-but the book is beyond relevant. It's critical reading in a nation with thousands of nukes still on hair-trigger alert . . . Command and Control reads like a character-driven thriller as Schlosser draws on his deep reporting, extensive interviews, and documents obtained via the Freedom of Information Act to demonstrate how human error, computer glitches, dilution of authority, poor communications, occasional incompetence, and the routine hoarding of crucial information have nearly brought about our worst nightmare on numerous occasions * Mother Jones *A powerful mix of history, politics, and technology, told with impressive authority * Independent *Eric Schlosser brings the investigative rigour of his big hit Fast Food Nation to this overview of our global nuclear arsenal * Herald *

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Book SynopsisAtomic Steppe tells the untold true story of how the obscure country of Kazakhstan said no to the most powerful weapons in human history. With the fall of the Soviet Union, the marginalized Central Asian republic suddenly found itself with the world's fourth largest nuclear arsenal on its territory. Would it give up these fire-ready weapons—or try to become a Central Asian North Korea? This book takes us inside Kazakhstan's extraordinary and little-known nuclear history from the Soviet period to the present. For Soviet officials, Kazakhstan's steppe was not an ecological marvel or beloved homeland, but an empty patch of dirt ideal for nuclear testing. Two-headed lambs were just the beginning of the resulting public health disaster for Kazakhstan—compounded, when the Soviet Union collapsed, by the daunting burden of becoming an overnight nuclear power. Equipped with intimate personal perspective and untapped archival resources, Togzhan Kassenova introduces us to the engineers turned diplomats, villagers turned activists, and scientists turned pacifists who worked toward disarmament. With thousands of nuclear weapons still present around the world, the story of how Kazakhs gave up their nuclear inheritance holds urgent lessons for global security.Trade Review"Atomic Steppe is the untold story of how Kazakhstan rid itself of nuclear weapons—a remarkable accomplishment for a new nation. Togzhan Kassenova documents this momentous tale with depth, rigor, and skill. A revelatory, authoritative account of how the nuclear arms race went backwards, for once, making the world safer." —David E. Hoffman, author of The Dead Hand: The Untold Story of the Cold War Arms Race and Its Dangerous Legacy"Togzhan Kassenova's moving Atomic Steppe offers one of the first complete English-language accounts of the devastating but little-known nuclear history of Kazakhstan. The author successfully blends meticulous research with her own family's personal experience." —Sarah Cameron, author of The Hungry Steppe: Famine, Violence, and the Making of Soviet Kazakhstan"In this wonderful book, Togzhan Kassenova provides an intimate account of Kazakhstan's nuclear history and an acute analysis of how it handled its post-Soviet nuclear inheritance. Atomic Steppe is a deeply researched and profoundly affecting book, which everyone concerned about the nuclear state of the world should read." —David J. Holloway, author of Stalin and the Bomb: The Soviet Union and Atomic Energy, 1939-1956"With the sweeping and inspiring Atomic Steppe, Togzhan Kassenova has unearthed insights new even to those of us who had front-row seats to Kazakhstan's nuclear saga, telling a story both accurate and humane. Anyone interested in Eurasia or in health, environmental, and nuclear challenges should read this engrossing book."—William Courtney, former US Ambassador to Kazakhstan"Togzhan Kassenova's remarkable Atomic Steppe offers both a scholarly and a deeply personal view of the damage that more than seventy years of nuclear testing have caused to the soil and the people of this region."—Michael D. Gordin, New York Review of Books"The beauty and magic of this brutalized landscape cannot be erased. Togzhan's book introduces us to the indomitable strength of itspeople, including those victimized by nuclear testing. They and we are in her debt."—Michael Krepon, Arms Control Wonk"Togzhan Kassenova's review of 70 years of Kazakhstan's history in Atomic Steppe is the definitive study of that country's nuclear inheritance and its associated internal politics and international diplomacy."—Laura Kennedy, Foreign Service Journal"Kassenova's masterpiece not only outlines the importance of patience, empathy and deftness in diplomacy, but also helps to recalculate the costs of nuclearization. By compellingly telling Kazakhstan's nuclear story, the author warns against ignoring the most important stakeholders of the nuclear non-proliferation regime: people."—Rabia Akhtar, International Affairs"Atomic Steppe is a book of two halves that have been fused together to create a perfect whole. The first half describes the legacy of Kazakhstan's Soviet nuclear weapon tests. Conversely, the second part explores Kazakhstan's subsequent independence and the rugged pathway towards its emergence as a nuclear-free state in the early 1990s It is completely unique, an absolute must read, and it will become an atomic classic of our time."—Becky Alexis-Martin, The Spokesman"Atomic Steppe has much to inspire in future scholarship. By decentering the narrative from the United States and USSR and focusing on the Kazakh perspective, Kassenova brings attention to stories that have been overshadowed or ignored. In detailing the diplomatic interactions between the US and Kazakhstan, and the rise of the anti-nuclear movement in Kazakhstan, Kassenova clearly demonstrates that the Kazakhs were active agents, rather than passive bystanders, in shaping their future."—Erin Chávez, H-Sci-Med-TechTable of Contents1. The Steppe 2. Forty Years of Nuclear Tests 3. The Human Toll 4. The Nation Rises 5. The Swan Song of the Soviet Union 6. Fears in Washington and Alma-Ata 7. A Temporary Nuclear Power 8. The Final Push 9. Project Sapphire and the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program 10. Farewell to Bombs 11. Epilogue: Reimagining the Atomic Steppe

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Book Synopsis''Everything about this story is astounding'' Bryan Appleyard, Sunday TimesTrinity was the codename for the test explosion of the atomic bomb in New Mexico on 16 July 1945. Trinity is now also the extraordinary story of the bomb''s metaphorical father, Rudolf Peierls; his intellectual son, the atomic spy, Klaus Fuchs, and the ghosts of the security services in Britain, the USA and USSR.Against the background of pre-war Nazi Germany, the Second World War and the following Cold War, the book traces how Peierls brought Fuchs into his family and his laboratory, only to be betrayed. It describes in unprecedented detail how Fuchs became a spy, his motivations and the information he passed to his Soviet contacts, both in the UK and after he went with Peierls to join the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos in 1944. Frank Close is himself a distinguished nuclear physicist: uniquely, the book explains the science as well as the spying.Fuchs returned toTrade ReviewA masterclass in thriller writing, it bears comparison with the most gripping spy sagas of Ben Macintyre -- Graham Farmelo * Guardian *A brilliant new biography ... The book introduces crucial changes to ... the official version of events. -- Bryan Appleyard * Sunday Times *Engrossing, brilliantly researched ... The scale of Fuchs's spying was astounding, as were its consequences -- Jay Elwes * Spectator *He has delved into the archives to produce a remarkable story ... meticulous but highly readable -- Manjit Kumar * The Times *

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Book SynopsisOffers insight into life in the mid-1960s on a RAF Canberra nuclear-armed squadron in West Germany on the frontline in the Cold War. The author tells his story warts and all, with many amusing overtones, in what was an extremely serious business when the world was standing on the brink of nuclear conflict.

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Book SynopsisA Times History Book of the Year 2022From the #1 bestselling historian Max Hastings the heart-stopping story of the missile crisis' Daily TelegraphThe 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis was the most perilous event in history, when mankind faced a looming nuclear collision between the United States and Soviet Union. During those weeks, the world gazed into the abyss of potential annihilation.Max Hastings's graphic new history tells the story from the viewpoints of national leaders, Russian officers, Cuban peasants, American pilots and British disarmers. Max Hastings deploys his accustomed blend of eye-witness interviews, archive documents and diaries, White House tape recordings, top-down analysis, first to paint word-portraits of the Cold War experiences of Fidel Castro's Cuba, Nikita Khrushchev's Russia and Kennedy's America; then to describe the nail-biting Thirteen Days in which Armageddon beckoned.Hastings began researching this book believing that he was exploring a past event from twentieTrade Review PRAISE FOR ABYSS: ‘Grabs from the get-go… as if this were the very best fiction’ Daily Mail ‘A brilliant, beautifully constructed and thrilling reassessment of the most perilous moment in history’ Daily Telegraph ‘Frightening but hopelessly addictive’ The Times ‘Magisterial… chilling’Daily Express ‘Brilliantly told… compelling… Hastings has cleverly woven the story together from all sides describing them in dramatic, almost hour by hour detail… this is a scary book. Hastings sees little evidence that today’s leaders understand each other any better than they did in 1962’ Sunday Times ‘Deeply researched, incisively intelligent and compulsively readable. Abyss is as tight and smart account as any account and will earn pride of place even on a shelf already packed with books about the crisis’ TLS ‘A gripping retelling of those weeks of brinkmanship, reckless gambles, gung-ho generals and a thuggish USSR leader bullying a ‘weak president’’ Sun ‘Superb… reads like a thriller as the gripping drama of the Cold War power politics plays out behind closed doors in Washington, Moscow and Havana’ Daily Mail ‘Hastings lays bare, with chilling clarity, the ease with which political theatre and bluster could well have escalated into a scenario of mutually assured destruction’ Observer

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Book SynopsisFrom the dawn of the atomic age to today, nuclear weapons have been central to the internal dynamics of US alliances in Europe and Asia. But nuclear weapons cooperation in US alliances has varied significantly between allies and over time. This book explores the history of America’s nuclear posture worldwide, delving into alliance structures and interaction during and since the end of the Cold War to uncover the underlying dynamics of nuclear weapons cooperation between the US and its allies.Combining in-depth empirical analysis with an accessible theoretical lens, the book reveals that US allies have wielded significant influence in shaping nuclear weapons cooperation with the US in ways that reflect their own, often idiosyncratic, objectives. Alliances are ecosystems of exchange rather than mere tools of external balancing, the book argues, and institutional perspectives can offer an unprecedented insight into how structured cooperation can promote policy convergence.Trade Review'Long a footnote to US nuclear strategy, extended deterrence is rising in salience and urgency as the United States and its allies contend with a deteriorating security environment. This important new study combines historical research, political science, and policy analysis to generate valuable new insights into past and present practices in both Europe and Asia and thereby lays the foundation for future policy development.'Brad Roberts, Director of the Center for Global Security Research at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, California'Partners in deterrence offers a fresh perspective on an enduring question: what motivates states to form nuclear alliances? As US alliances in Europe and Asia face growing nuclear threats, strategists would be well-served to understand what brings in security partners - and what helps them stay. This book makes a valuable contribution, blending classic theory with meticulous examination of well-selected case studies to explain contemporary nuclear alliances. By going beyond the traditional fixation on proximate security threats as the main driver of nuclear alliances, the book widens the aperture of contemporary debates, providing a valuable perspective for academics and policymakers alike.'Matthew Kroenig, Professor of Government and Foreign Service at Georgetown University and the author of The Logic of American Nuclear Strategy -- .Table of ContentsIntroduction1 Realism, institutionalism, and nuclear weapons cooperation2 Nuclear sharing and mutual dependence: Germany and NATO nuclear weapons cooperation3 Local accommodation: Norway and nuclear weapons cooperation in NATO4 Security at arm’s length: US–Japan nuclear weapons cooperation5 Assurance and abandonment: Nuclear weapons in the US–South Korea alliance6 Informal bargaining: Nuclear weapons cooperation and the US–Australia alliance7 Understanding the drivers of nuclear weapons cooperationIndex

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Book Synopsis"Nuclear Bunkers" tells the previously undisclosed story of the secret defence structures built by the West during the Cold War years. The book describes in fascinating detail a vast umbrella of radar stations that spanned the North American continent and the north Atlantic from the Aleutian islands through Canada to the North Yorkshire moors, all centred upon an enormous secret control centre buried hundreds of feet below Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado. This is complemented in the United Kingdom with a chain of secret radars codenamed 'Rotor' built in the early 1950's, and eight huge, inland sector control centres, built over 100' underground at enormous cost. The book reveals the various bunkers built for the U.S Administration, including the Raven Rock alternate war headquarters (the Pentagon's wartime hideout), the Greenbrier bunker for the Senate and House of Representatives, and the Mount Weather central government headquarters amongst others. Developments in Canada, including the Ottawa 'Diefenbunker' and the regional government bunkers are also studied. In the UK there were the London bunkers and the Regional War rooms built in the 1950's to protect against the Soviet threat, and their replacement in 1958 by much more hardened, underground Regional Seats of Government in the provinces, and the unique Central Government War Headquarters at Corsham. Also included in the UK coverage is the UK Warning and Monitoring Organisation with its underground bunkers and observation posts, as well as the little known bunkers built by the various local authorities and by the public utilities. Finally the book examines the provision, (or more accurately, lack of provision), of shelter space for the general population, comparing the situation in the USA and the UK with some other European countries and with the Soviet Union.

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Book SynopsisThis is the untold story of the small group of men who have devised the plans and shaped the policies on how to use the Bomb. The book (first published in 1983) explores the secret world of these strategists of the nuclear age and brings to light a chapter in American political and military history never before revealed.Trade Review“An intensely important subject....Kaplan makes it absorbing, and what is more, comprehensible.”—Barbara Tuchman

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Book SynopsisA pioneering examination of nuclear trauma, the continuing and new nuclear peril, and the subjectivities they generate Amid resurgent calls for widespread nuclear energy and “limited nuclear war,” the populations that must live with the consequences of these decisions are increasingly insecure. The nuclear peril combined with the looming threat of climate change means that we are seeing the formation of a new kind of subjectivity: humans who are in a position of perpetual ontological insecurity. In Radioactive Ghosts, Gabriele Schwab articulates a vision of these “nuclear subjectivities” that we all live with. Focusing on the legacies of the Manhattan Project, Hiroshima, and nuclear energy politics, Radioactive Ghosts takes us on a tour of the little-seen sides of our nuclear world. Examining devastating uranium mining on Native lands, nuclear sacrifice zones, the catastrophic accidents at Chernobyl and Fukushima, and the formation of a new transspecies ethics, Schwab shows how individuals threatened with extinction are creating new adaptations, defenses, and communal spaces. Ranging from personal accounts of experiences with radiation to in-depth readings of literature, film, art, and scholarly works, Schwab gives us a complex, idiosyncratic, and personal analysis of one of the most overlooked issues of our time.Trade Review"This book, a wake-up call and a tour de force of wide-ranging interdisciplinary scholarship, is beautifully written and accessible; Gabriele Schwab moves nuclear power discourse further by focusing on aspects rarely addressed together, like psychic, racial, gender and class implications. Her short personal interludes add yet another layer of meaning. Radioactive Ghosts should be required reading for everyone hoping the human species can survive."—E. Ann Kaplan, author of Climate Trauma: Foreseeing the Future in Dystopian Film and Literature"The innocent sounding Manhattan project forever put a Damocles sword on human existence. The first uranium that made the Project possible was dug from Africa. Drawing parallels between the extraction of uranium and the extraction of slave labor, Gabriele Schwab shows the prominent role of colonialism and race in the politics of nuclear production and possession. Radioactive Ghosts, with its clarity of prose and thought, reminds us that we humans have only the one planet. Why, oh, why should any nation be proud that they have the capacity to destroy all planetary life? Exorcise these radioactive ghosts by banning and destroying all these weapons of human destruction. End this MADNESS."—Ngugi wa Thiong'o, author of Wrestling with the Devil "Gabrielle Schwab’s thought-provoking book makes a timely contribution to the on-going nuclear debate."—Journal of Peace ResearchTable of ContentsContentsPreface: Of Three-Eyed Fish and Other GhostingsIntroduction: Why Nuclear Necropolitics Today?Part I. Nuclear Subjectivities1. No Apocalypse, Not Now: Derrida and the Nuclear Unconscious2. Nuclear Colonialism3. Critical Nuclear Race Theory4. The Gender of Nuclear SubjectivitiesInterlude: Children of the Nuclear AgeWith Simon J. OrtizPart II. Haunting from the Future5. The Afterlife of Nuclear Catastrophes6. Hiroshima’s Ghostly Shadows7. Postnuclear Madness and Nuclear Crypts8. Transspecies Selves: Intimacies, Extimacies, AnimaciesCoda: Postnuclear Ecologies: Language, Body, and Affect in Beckett’s Happy DaysAcknowledgmentsNotesIndex

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Book Synopsis''War is the most important thing in the world'', writes Martin van Creveld, one of the world''s best-known experts on military history and strategy.The survival of every country, government, and individual is ultimately dependent on war - or the ability to wage it in self-defence. That is why, though it may come but once in a hundred years, it must be prepared for every day. When it is too late-when the bodies lie stiff and people weep over them-those in charge have failed in their duty. Nevertheless, in spite of the centrality of war to human history and culture, there has for long been no modern attempt to provide a replacement for the classics on war and strategy, Sun Tzu''s The Art of War, dating from the 5th or 6th century BC, and Carl von Clausewitz''s On War, written in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars. What is needed is a modern, comprehensive, easy to read and understand theory of war for the 21st century that could serve as a replacement for these classic texts. The purpTrade ReviewProbably the best book on war that I have ever read -- short and succinct for the layman. * Andrew Sheng, The Star, Malaysia *A good update on the general theories of war and makes for an informative and interesting explanation. * Chris May, Battlefield *[A] gem of a book... compulsory reading for all political leaders. * Soldier *Authoritative and thought-provoking. * Milos Stankovic, Spectator *Well-written, based on much knowledge, interesting, and thoughtful. * Jeremy Black, Military History Monthly *For the non-military reader More on War's most engaging sections are likely to be the concluding reflections on the way war is changing. The rise of drones, the shrinking human role in combat, the emergence of cyber warfare all of these will have an impact, and not just upon the way wars are fought but upon the societies that fight them. * Financial Times *Many people of today in the Western world seem to have forgotten about war, which has followed mankind throughout history. This book is an excellent reminder, recommended especially to the women and men who will lead us into the future. * Anders Brännström, Major General, Swedish Army *Table of ContentsIntroduction. The Crisis of Military Theory 1: Why War? 2: Economics and War 3: The Challenge of War 4: Building the Forces 5: The Conduct of War 6: On Strategy 7: War at Sea 8: Air- Space- and Cyber War 9: Nuclear War 10: War and Law 11: Asymmetric War 12: Perspectives: Change, Continuity and the Future Acknowledgements Index

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Book SynopsisA long-time staple of International Relations courses, this new edition continues the important discussion of nuclear proliferation, while looking at the regions and issues now at the forefront of the nuclear question.Trade Review"This book is a lively and genuine dialogue between two leading authorities on an issue of great importance for both scholarship and public policy." -- Robert Jervis - Columbia University"This important book clearly and succinctly lays out the opposing views on whether nuclear proliferation makes the world more or less peaceful. . . . I can’t think of a better book to recommend on the ABCs of nuclear proliferation." -- John J. Mearsheimer - University of Chicago

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"“Vipin Narang’s new book, Seeking the Bomb, is an important contribution to our understanding of nuclear proliferation and, by extension, ways to prevent it . . . . the book, unfortunately, could not be more timely"---Henrietta Wilson, Times Literary Supplement"[Seeking The Bomb] brilliantly dissects and theorizes how states pursue nuclear weapons. . . .[An] innovative account."---Rabia Akhtar, International Affairs

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Book SynopsisIn the spring of 1945 the Allies arrested the physicists they believed had worked on the German nuclear programme during the war. Interned in an English country house, their conversations were secretly recorded. MI6's Operation Epsilon sought to determine how close Nazi Germany had come to building an atomic bomb. It was in this remote setting - Farm Hall, near Cambridge - that the German physicists first heard of the bombing ofHiroshima. August 6 1945 was a night that changed the course of history. The terrible weapon unleashed on Japan caused unprecedented destruction and loss of life. That the Allies had such a weapon at their disposal came as a great shock to the German scientists who had worked under the assumption that the Allies knew nothing of nuclear fission. This is the story of the wartime race to develop an atomic bomb, and the genius, guilt, complicity and hubris of Nobel Prize-winning scientists working to create a weapon that would undoubtedly have won the war for the Germans.

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Book SynopsisAt 18 years of age, Theodore Hall was the youngest physicist on the Manhattan Project, hired as a junior at Harvard and put to work at Los Alamos in 1944. Assigned the job of testing and refining the complex implosion system for the plutonium bomb, Hall was described as “amazingly brilliant” by his superiors on the project, many of whom were Nobel Prize winners. But what Hall’s colleagues didn’t know was that the teenaged Hall was also the youngest spy taken on by the Soviet Union in search of secrets to the atomic bomb. Spy With No Country tells the gripping story of a brilliant scientist whose information about the plutonium bomb, including detailed drawings and measurements, proved to be integral to the Soviet’s development of nuclear capabilities.In the dying days of World War II, defeat of the Third Reich became a matter of when, not if. Tensions between wartime allies America and the Soviet Union began to rise, and things only got hotter when the United States refused to share information on its nuclear program. This groundbreaking book paints a nuanced picture of a young man acting on what he thought was best for the world. Neither a Communist nor a Soviet sympathizer, Hall worked to ensure that America did not monopolize the science behind the atomic bomb, which he felt may have apocalyptic consequences. Instead, by providing the Soviets with the secrets of the bomb, and thereby initiating “mutual assured destruction,” Hall may have actually saved the world as we know it. But his contributions to the Soviets certainly did not go unnoticed. FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover opened an investigation into Hall, which was escalated when it was discovered that Hall’s brother Edward was a rising star of the Air Force, leading the development of intercontinental ballistic missiles. Featuring in-depth research from recently declassified FBI documents, first-hand journals, and personal interviews, investigative journalist Dave Lindorff uncovers the story of the atomic spy who gave secrets away, and got away with it, too.

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“Within the vast scholarship on the atomic bombs the book stands out for its highly original depiction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as ‘ground zero’ for the articulation of the concept of trauma, which is applied so widely today. Historians of Japan, medicine and science and technology studies are likely to find it an enlightening and even moving read.” * British Journal for the History of Science *“This book presents an insightful and persuasive analysis of Japanese psychiatry and the troubled experiences of atom bomb survivors. . . . Zwigenberg provides important evidence to understand why so many people, who had endured unimaginable suffering, were neglected in the post-war period.” * The Psychologist *“Nuclear Minds is a penetrating investigation into how the postwar Japanese psychological and psychiatric establishment encountered the psychic effects of nuclear trauma, exposing a long journey toward an understanding of how political trauma and war deeply effect individuals within their collective society—here, Zwigenberg offers a necessary reflection and examination extremely resonant with current events today.” * History: Reviews of New Books *“After Hiroshima in 1945, the psychological effect of the bomb was, astonishingly, explained away as if caused by anything but the bomb. Science’s obsession with objectivity and universality, compounded by the Cold War realignment of geopolitical powers, made individual suffering of hibakusha utterly invisible. In a clear and compelling analysis, and with appealingly open prose, Zwigenberg strikingly juxtaposes and makes tangible a global web of psychological knowledge, science politics, and survivor activism before the advent of post-traumatic stress disorder.” -- Naoko Wake, Michigan State University“A profound and illuminating journey into the psychological subjectivism experienced by the hibakusha under the Cold War psychiatric gaze. Zwigenberg shows how analyses of surviving nuclear attacks in Hiroshima and Nagasaki were embedded into existing psychological frameworks of militarized emotional harm and yet disrupted them. We see the hibakusha abandoned as suffering individuals even as their wounds were being collectively codified to prepare the world for a dystopic future.” -- Robert A. Jacobs, Hiroshima Peace Institute and Hiroshima City UniversityTable of ContentsNote on Language Introduction Part 1. Bombing Minds Chapter 1. American Psychological Sciences and the Road to Hiroshima and Nagasaki Chapter 2. Bombing “the Japanese Mind”: Alexander Leighton’s Hiroshima Chapter 3. Healing a Sick World: The Nuclear Age on the Analyst’s Couch Chapter 4. Nuclear Trauma and Panic in the United States Part 2. Researching Minds, Healing Minds Chapter 5. Y. Scott Matsumoto, the ABCC, and A-Bomb Social Work Chapter 6. Konuma Masuho and the Psychiatry of the Bomb Chapter 7. Kubo Yoshitoshi and the Psychology of Peace Chapter 8. Social Workers, Nuclear Sociology, and the Road to PTSD Conclusion Acknowledgments Notes Index

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Book SynopsisThe RAF''s mighty delta-wing Vulcan jet bomber is an enduring image of the Cold War era. A cornerstone of Britain''s nuclear deterrent, it was later adapted for conventional bombing and saw its only active service in the Falklands War. Newly restored with the help of Heritage Lottery Funding, the last airworthy Vulcan B2 XH558 in many ways fills the gap left by Concorde''s retirement.

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Book SynopsisAt this highly atmospheric and often inhospitable location on the Suffolk coast, the Royal Flying Corps (later RAF) conducted crucial experiments and trials, some brilliant, others futile, on effective gunnery, accurate bombing and improved navigational aids.

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Book SynopsisAl Cimino is the author of over 100 books. His other historical titles include: The Bamboo Cage, The Empress of South America, Daughter of Heaven, World at War, Victory in World War II, Vietnam, a War Lost and Won, History's Greatest Battles, Julius Caesar, Alexander the Great, and Sex Lives of the Great Dictators.

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Book SynopsisTells the full story of the battle to capture the Pacific Island of Tinian, one of the Northern Mariana Islands, in July and August 1994.

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Book SynopsisA fully illustrated study into the extraordinary Convair B-36 during the Cold War.Conceived during 1941 in case Germany occupied Britain, when US bombers would then have insufficient range to retaliate, the B-36 was to be primarily a 10,000-mile bomber' with heavy defensive armament, six engines and a performance that would prevent interception by fighters. Although rapid developments in jet engine and high-speed airframe technology quickly made it obsolescent, the B-36 took part in many important nuclear test programmes. The aircraft also provided the US nuclear deterrent until the faster B-52 became available in 1955. It was one of the first aircraft to use substantial amounts of magnesium in its structure, leading to the bomber's Magnesium Overcast' nickname. It earned many superlatives due to the size and complexity of its structure, which used 27 miles of wiring, had a wingspan longer than the Wright brothers' first flight, equivalent engine power to 400 cars, the same inteTable of Contents1. Bigger and Bolder 2. Birth of a Heavyweight 3. Test and Development 4. Service Entry 5. Doomsday Bomber 6. Global Reach 7. Many Crew, Many Tasks 8. Massive Changes Appendices Colour Plates Commentary Index

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Book SynopsisThe definitive guide to the history of nuclear arms control by a wise eavesdropper and masterful storyteller, Michael Krepon. The greatest unacknowledged diplomatic achievement of the Cold War was the absence of mushroom clouds. Deterrence alone was too dangerous to succeed; it needed arms control to prevent nuclear warfare. So, U.S. and Soviet leaders ventured into the unknown to devise guardrails for nuclear arms control and to treat the Bomb differently than other weapons. Against the odds, they succeeded. Nuclear weapons have not been used in warfare for three quarters of a century. This book is the first in-depth history of how the nuclear peace was won by complementing deterrence with reassurance, and then jeopardized by discarding arms control after the Cold War ended. Winning and Losing the Nuclear Peace tells a remarkable story of high-wire acts of diplomacy, close calls, dogged persistence, and extraordinary success. Michael Krepon brings to life the pitched battles between arms controllers and advocates of nuclear deterrence, the ironic twists and unexpected outcomes from Truman to Trump. What began with a ban on atmospheric testing and a nonproliferation treaty reached its apogee with treaties that mandated deep cuts and corralled "loose nukes" after the Soviet Union imploded. After the Cold War ended, much of this diplomatic accomplishment was cast aside in favor of freedom of action. The nuclear peace is now imperiled by no less than four nuclear-armed rivalries. Arms control needs to be revived and reimagined for Russia and China to prevent nuclear warfare. New guardrails have to be erected. Winning and Losing the Nuclear Peace is an engaging account of how the practice of arms control was built from scratch, how it was torn down, and how it can be rebuilt.Trade Review"Michael Krepon, a child of the Cold War, dedicated his career to the effort to reduce the risk of a nuclear Armageddon. Winning and Losing the Nuclear Peace is the culmination of his career. This chronicle of the leaders in Washington and Moscow who negotiated agreements to avert nuclear danger is powerful and wise."—Strobe Talbott, Former Deputy Secretary of State"Until now, there has been no comprehensive history of nuclear arms control; Michael Krepon's masterful Winning and Losing the Nuclear Peace fills that ICBM-size hole in the field. A must-read to understand our past efforts to tame the nuclear arms race, so that we can pursue them successfully again."—Vipin Narang, Massachusetts Institute of Technology"Winning and Losing the Nuclear Peace makes a uniquely important contribution to arms control literature. It is exceptionally well-written and clear, providing valuable insights into how we have managed to avoid a nuclear war these past 75 years, and how to continue that avoidance despite the collapse of treaties."—William J. Perry, Former Secretary of Defense"Krepon's refreshingly realist message is that the world is stuck in the nuclear age: the idea of abolishing nuclear weapons and the notion of finding war-winning strategies for their use are both forms of escapism."—Lawrence D. Freedman, Foreign Affairs"Michael Krepon's book Winning and Losing the Nuclear Peace: The Rise, Demise, and Revival of Arms Control comes at the perfect time... The book makes three important contributions. First, it should become the definitive text on the topic of arms control and the volume of choice for university courses on arms control, deterrence, and nuclear policy more broadly... Second, in telling such a detailed history, Krepon, albeit indirectly, provides a playbook for understanding when, why, and how arms control has succeeded in the past. This is a timely contribution. Finally, Krepon's vision for the future of arms control is an ambitious one that may face practical challenges but should inspire scholars to engage with the first principles of arms control."—Heather Williams, Arms Control Today"Krepon expertly stitches together a comprehensive historical account of arms control. As the title suggests, Krepon's scholarly endeavour traces the ebbs and flows of the US arms control journey. Using his knack for storytelling, the author brings to the fore how, in the United States, individual grit and political will trumped systemic reticence to embrace arms control."—Rabia Akhtar, International Affairs"Offer[ing] thoughtful arguments about the format and purpose of arms control in the past, present and future...Krepon's magisterial account emphasises the hard work and political vision that even a modest approach to arms control entails. Future generations of arms-controllers will find rich insights in this important book." –Målfrid Braut-Hegghammer, Survival"Winning and Losing the Nuclear Peaceis a magisterial assessment of the entire eight decades of diplomatic history of nuclear arms control and its symbiotic relationship with deterrence. Michael Krepon covers both East-West negotiations and non-proliferation efforts world-wide, focusing on the people who made nuclear arms control and those who opposed them – their motives, tactics, the interactions among them, their successes and failures, as well as the political environments in which they operated. The book is written in an engaging prose making the subject accessible not just to experts, but also to general audiences and students. It is likely to remain the standard reference for many years"—American Academy of Diplomacy"Arms control is what states make of it. The criteria for its success or failure are often underspecified, leaving it open to an unnecessarily broad range of criticism. Krepon's magisterial account emphasises the hard work and political vision that even a modest approach to arms control entails. Future generations of arms-controllers will find rich insights in this important book."—Målfrid Braut-Hegghammer, The Survival Editor's Blog"Winning and Losing the Nuclear Peace is... a passing of the baton from one of the elder statesmen of American arms control – a baton wrapped in marching orders for a new generation of analysts and advocates."—Paul Esau, Canadian Military HistoryTable of ContentsIntroduction 1. A Prehistory of Nuclear Arms Control 2. Eisenhower's Halting Steps 3. Kennedy, Johnson, and Early Successes 4. Johnson and the Quest for Strategic Arms Control 5. Nixon, Kissinger, and the SALT I Accords 6. Nixon Falls and SALT II Stalls 7. Ford, Kissinger, and the Death of Détente 8. Carter, SALT II, and the Reckoning 9. Reagan's Roller Coaster Ride 10. Breakthrough 11. George H.W. Bush at Peak Performance 12. Consolidating Gains 13. Stalling Out 14. Shedding Treaties 15. Reality Overtakes Hope 16. Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin 17. Reaffirming Norms, Reducing Numbers

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Book SynopsisAfter the first use of nuclear weapons in 1945, Albert Einstein warned that 'we thus drift towards unparalleled catastrophe'. Today we are no longer drifting but racing toward catastrophe at breakneck speed. This book analyses recent events that have brought about a dangerous Third Nuclear Age. From the collapse of arms control treaties and the development of hypersonic missiles, to the pop culture that shapes how we think about nuclear weapons, via how nuclear weapons intersect with the global threats posed by pandemics, populism, climate change, corruption, militarism, and racism, this book explores the nuclear zeitgeist of today. It presents the case for critical nuclear studies, and provides an important intervention into debates about nuclear weapons and international security. Today, the planet stands on the brink of catastrophe. This book tells you why, and what we can do about it.Trade Review'This is a timely and excellent book as President Putin lifts a ban on the testing of nuclear weapons and is facing pressure to develop Russia’s nuclear arsenal. This is one of the first books on the Third Nuclear Age and there will be many more. It has additional merit that it is short and rightly concludes that it is not enough to say “a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought”. Unless we return to meaningful nuclear negotiations between nuclear weapon states, there will be a war in which nuclear weapons are used.'Lord David Owen, Former Foreign Secretary -- .Table of ContentsIntroduction1 'We thus drift toward unparalleled catastrophe': a brief history of nuclear weapons2 'Fire and fury like the world has never seen': understanding the Third Nuclear Age3 'I got it. I got it. Why don't we nuke them?', August to October 20194 'This is a high time for hypersonic missiles', November 2019 to January 20205 'The world of post-apocalypse movies', February to April 20206 'I can’t breathe', May to July 20207 'Money meant for face masks', August to October 20208 'A force that would shatter our nation rather than share it', November 2020 to January 2021Conclusion: it’s not enough to say 'a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought', February 2021 to the presentIndex

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Book SynopsisThe Cold War is one of the furthest-reaching and longest-lasting conflicts in modern history. It spanned the globe - from Greece to China, Hungary to Cuba - and lasted for almost half a century. It has shaped political relations to this day, drawing new physical and ideological boundaries between East and West. In this meticulously researched account, Bridget Kendall explores the Cold War through the eyes of those who experienced it first-hand. Alongside in-depth analysis that explains the historical and political context, the book draws on exclusive interviews with individuals who lived through the conflict's key events, offering a variety of perspectives that reveal how the Cold War was experienced by ordinary people. From pilots making food drops during the Berlin Blockade and Japanese fishermen affected by H-bomb testing to families fleeing the Korean War and children whose parents were victims of McCarthy's Red Scare, The Cold War covers the full geographical and historical reach of the conflict. The Cold War is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand how the tensions of the last century have shaped the modern world, and what it was like to live through them.Trade ReviewBridget Kendall is renowned for her coverage of the Soviet Union. In her understanding of Russia she has few peers. Her collection of first-hand stories of the experience of the Cold War is chilling, powerful and important. These memories are the more compelling for being placed with her own experience and knowledge of those grim days. -- Jonathan Dimbleby

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Book SynopsisNuclear arms control and non-proliferation is a complex subject of immense and abiding global concern. the encyclopedia provides its readers a very comprehensive, one stop, turn key and integrated service by covering the entire gamut of nuclear arms, their proliferation and non-proliferation, nuclear accidents and their management, a holistic view on disarmament, nuclear weapon free zones, ballistic missiles, strategic arms limitation including strategic offensive reductions of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons as also the enormously important and path breaking U.S-India Nuclear Deal which is now being processed. Included too are a bouquet of deliberations on nuclear disarmament and connected issues involving international and regional organizations, NGO's, Associations, Networks and Foundations.

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewInspectors for Peace is a tour de force about the IAEA's history and evolution and thus a must-read for understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the agency's role in preventing proliferation.—Arms Control TodayTable of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction: Nuclear Inspectors1. One World or None2. Atoms for Peace3. Cold War Vienna4. Science, Safeguards, and Bureaucracy5. The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty6. Gaps in the System7. North-South Tensions8. Chernobyl9. The Nuclear WatchdogConclusion: The Last Man StandingAbbreviationsGlossaryNotesIndex

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewAn excellent study of how the process of [Ukraine's] disarmament unfolded. Drawing on a wide range of sources, including some Ukrainian sources not tapped before, Budjeryn details in great depth the internal deliberations of the Ukrainian government and the intensive rounds of negotiations among the U.S., Russia and the three non-Russian republics. Inheriting the Bomb is essential reading for anyone interested in issues of disarmament and nonproliferation.—Daniel Larison, Responsible StatecraftInheriting the Bomb: The Collapse of the USSR and the Nuclear Disarmament of Ukraine adds depth [and]...provides a rich description of an important historical example of nuclear disarmament and calls attention to specific tensions between nuclear weapons and state security.—Army Control TodayBudjeryn's deeply researched book,...has obvious relevance today.—Lawfare[Inheriting the Bomb] provides a comprehensive background to understand the genesis of Ukrainian resistance through well-researched archival documents related to diplomatic negotiations between Russians and Americans and Ukraine's internal debates, among others.Table of ContentsList of AbbreviationsAcknowledgementsPrologueIntroduction Part 1. Soviet Nuclear DisintegrationChapter 1. Soviet Collapse and Nuclear WeaponsChapter 2. Preventing Soviet Nuclear DisintegrationChapter 3. The Road to Lisbon: Proliferation v. SuccessionChapter 4. Belarus and Kazakhstan: Paths not TakenPart 2. Ukraine: Negotiating a Nuclear ExceptionChapter 5. The Road to Nuclear RenunciationChapter 6. From Renunciation to OwnershipChapter 7. Nuclear Ownership and DeterrenceChapter 8. From Ownership to RenunciationIn Conclusion BibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewNuclear Decisions remains a valuable addition to the nuclear security literature and required reading for those that study the nature or domestic politics of nuclear weapons programs. * Christopher J. Watterson, Journal for Peace and Nuclear Disarmament *Koch's Nuclear Decisions is an important addition to the scholarship on nuclear proliferation. * Rachel Whitlark, H-Diplo *Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Chapter 1: Introduction to Nuclear Decisions Chapter 2: Proliferation Curves Chapter 3: A Theory of Nuclear Decision-Making Chapter 4: Changing Proliferation Environments across the Nuclear Age . Chapter 5: The Permissive Period: The Soviet Union, France, and Israel Chapter 6: The Transition Period: Sweden, South Korea, and India Chapter 7: The Nonproliferation Regime Period: Pakistan, South Africa, and Brazil Chapter 8: Changing the Course of Nuclear Weapons Programs References Appendix

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Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE WA PREMIER''S BOOK AWARDS - BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024SHORTLISTED FOR THE MARGARET MEDCALF AWARD 2024''I remember seeing a flash, I turned around and heard a roar like a train approaching in a tunnel. Then a tremendous crack like a whiplash passed directly overhead. I saw a mushroom cloud ... There was black and white smoke, orange and red flames ascending through the centre of the mushroom.'' RAN Able Seaman Vince Douglas, participant in Operation HurricaneAt 8.00 a.m. on Friday 3 October 1952, Britain''s first atomic bomb was detonated in the hold of a surplus frigate, HMS Plym, moored in the Montebello Islands, 50 miles off the North West Coast of Western Australia. The blast vaporised the Plym, produced a mushroom cloud 2 miles high, and covered the islands and parts of the Australian mainland with fallout. The test, codenamed Operation Hurricane, was the culmination of years of top-secret planning in

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Book SynopsisFor more than forty years, the United States has maintained a public commitment to nuclear disarmament, and every president from Ronald Reagan to Barack Obama has gradually reduced the size of America''s nuclear forces. Yet even now, over two decades after the end of the Cold War, the United States maintains a huge nuclear arsenal on high alert and ready for war. The Americans, like the Russians, the Chinese, and other major nuclear powers, continue to retain a deep faith in the political and military value of nuclear force, and this belief remains enshrined at the center of U.S. defense policy regardless of the radical changes that have taken place in international politics.In No Use, national security scholar Thomas M. Nichols offers a lucid, accessible reexamination of the role of nuclear weapons and their prominence in U.S. security strategy. Nichols explains why strategies built for the Cold War have survived into the twenty-first century, and he illustrates how AmTrade Review"A level-headed, jargon-free rejection of false choices about our nuclear future. Tom Nichols has written a very fine book for newcomers to the Bomb as well as for those who have become too comfortable with its acquaintance. At a time when domestic political wrangles and seemingly intractable nuclear dilemmas abound, Nichols offers a thought-provoking argument for the United States to drop all pretense about the Bomb and to unilaterally adopt a posture of minimum nuclear deterrence." * Michael Krepon, Cofounder of The Stimson Center *"With the end of the Cold War, many of us stopped thinking about nuclear weapons. Thomas Nichols explains why we had better pay attention, and his thoughtful and penetrating analysis will guide us in paying better attention." * Robert Jervis, Columbia University *"A succinct and well-written account of an important and much-debated national security issue. Nichols makes a convincing case for abandoning nuclear threats and relying on conventional deterrence and compellence to deal with nuclear proliferators." * T. V. Paul, McGill University *"A highly readable counternarrative to sixty years of prevailing wisdom about nuclear weapons and U.S. foreign policy." * Jeffrey Lewis, Monterey Institute of International Studies *

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Book SynopsisNuclear Reactions analyzes how nuclear weapons change the calculations states make in their foreign policies, why they do so, and why nuclear weapons have such different effects on the foreign policies of different countries. Mark S. Bell argues that nuclear weapons are useful for more than deterrence. They are leveraged to pursue a wide range of goals in international politics, and the nations that acquire them significantly change their foreign policies as a result. Closely examining how these effects vary and what those variations have meant in the United States, the United Kingdom, and South Africa, Bell shows that countries are not generically "emboldened"they change their foreign policies in different ways based on their priorities. This has huge policy implications: What would Iran do if it were to acquire nuclear weapons? Would Japanese policy toward the United States change if Japan were to obtain nuclear weapons? And what does the looming threat of nuclear weapons mean for the future of foreign policy? Far from being a relic of the Cold War, Bell argues, nuclear weapons are as important in international politics today as they ever were. Thanks to generous funding from the University of Minnesota and its participation in TOME, the ebook editions of this book are available as Open Access volumes, available from Cornell Open (cornellpress.cornell.edu/cornell-open) and other repositories.Trade ReviewIn Nuclear Reactions, Mark S. Bell makes a compelling contribution to this debate by advancing a novel theory of how foreign policy is influenced by the possession of nuclear weapons, testing it with well researched case studies. Bell's work immediately stands apart by accounting for historical variation from the outset. ones. The book is thorough, with Bell presenting convincing and highly detailed evidence in his case studies to support his theory while acknowledging potential pitfalls. * International Journal *Bell (Univ. of Minnesota) provides a compelling theory to account for state behavior after the adoption of nuclear weapons. That said, this book is an important contribution and deserves to be at the center of further discussion by both scholars and policy makers. * Choice *Table of ContentsIntroduction: How Do New Nuclear States Behave? 1. Nuclear Opportunism: How States Use Nuclear Weapons in International Politics 2. Independence and Status: The British Nuclear Experience 3. Apartheid and Aggression: South Africa, Angola, and the Bomb 4. The Foundations of a New World Order: The United States and the Start of the Nuclear Era 5. Past and Future Proliferators Conclusion: Nuclear Revolution or Nuclear Revolutions?

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Book SynopsisIn Resurrecting Nagasaki, Chad R. Diehl explores the genesis of narratives surrounding the atomic bombing of August 9, 1945, by following the individuals and groups who contributed to the shaping of Nagasaki City''s postwar identity. Municipal officials, survivor-activist groups, the Catholic community, and American occupation officials all interpreted the destruction and reconstruction of the city from different, sometimes disparate perspectives. Diehl''s analysis reveals how these atomic narratives shaped both the way Nagasaki rebuilt and the ways in which popular discourse on the atomic bombings framed the city''s experience for decades.Trade ReviewResurrecting Nagasaki deserves to be read as a foundational work on the post-atomic history of Nagasaki. * Pacific Historical Review *The book makes a significant contribution to the understudied history of Nagasaki. Resurrecting Nagasaki is an important book for anyone who is interested in nuclear history, US Japan relations, US public diplomacy, and urban studies. * Japanese Studies *A nicely written monograph—also the first in English, as it turns out—on Nagasaki the bombed, Nagasaki the resurrected, and Nagasaki the mirror image of its ghastly twinned counterpart, Hiroshima. * Kirk Center *Resurrecting Nagasaki is the first scholarly work in English on the history of Nagasaki after the atomic bombing on 9 August 1945. Chad Diehl's book is therefore a welcome first work on the topic, one that can extend the frontiers of our understanding about how people have struggled to deal with the aftermath of unprecedented devastation. It should serve as a valuable springboard for further explorations into the history of postatomic Nagasaki. * Monumenta Nipponica *Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Preface Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Envisioning Nagasaki 2. Coexisting in the Valley of Death 3. The "Saint" of Urakami 4. Writing Nagasaki 5. Walls of Silence 6. Ruins of Memory Conclusion Notes Index

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Book SynopsisPolitical Fallout is the story of one of the first human-driven, truly global environmental crises—radioactive fallout from nuclear weapons testing during the Cold War—and the international response. Beginning in 1945, the United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union detonated hundreds of nuclear weapons in the atmosphere, scattering a massive amount of radioactivity across the globe. The scale of contamination was so vast, and radioactive decay so slow, that the cumulative effect on humans and the environment is still difficult to fully comprehend. The international debate over nuclear fallout turned global radioactive contamination into an environmental issue, eventually leading the nuclear superpowers to sign the landmark Partial Test Ban Treaty (PTBT) in 1963. Bringing together environmental history and Cold War history, Toshihiro Higuchi argues that the PTBT, originally proposed as an arms control measure, transformed into a dual-purpose initiative to check the nuclear arms race and radioactive pollution simultaneously. Higuchi draws on sources in English, Russian, and Japanese, considering both the epistemic differences that emerged in different scientific communities in the 1950s and the way that public consciousness around the risks of radioactive fallout influenced policy in turn. Political Fallout addresses the implications of science and policymaking in the Anthropocene—an era in which humans are confronting environmental changes of their own making.Trade Review"Political Fallout shows how the superpowers took it upon themselves to determine acceptable risks of nuclear fallout for the entire globe by turning values and opinion into statements of fact. An insightful analysis of how international governance and environmental regulation configured understandings of risk and pollution in the Anthropocene."—Kate Brown, author of Plutopia and Manual for Survival: A Chernobyl Guide to the Future"Higuchi has written a superb study that articulates the role of fallout in ways we have not seen before, showing us how state power shaped our understanding of environmental risks. It is clear that this Cold War story, while forgotten by most, still frames how we imagine the challenges of the so-called Anthropocene."—Jacob Darwin Hamblin, author of Arming Mother Nature: The Birth of Catastrophic Environmentalism"Political Fallout is an excellent book, both for academic readers and for a general audience... It is a must read for anyone interested in nuclear policies at both the national and international levels."—Richard M. Filipink, Cold War History"[Political Fallout] provides an intelligent and engaging story and can be considered the most comprehensive analysis of the nuclear test fallout controversy to date. Academically solid, the book will surely interest a broad range of historians of Cold War science, environment, and medicine. Historians of technology could also find the book intriguing, as it can be read as a study of the political and scientific work that led to the suppression or 'uninvention' of atmospheric nuclear testing as technological practice."—Néstor Herran, Technology and CultureTable of ContentsIntroduction: "To Put an End to the Contamination of Man's Environment" 1. A State of Emergency: The Origins of Radiation Protection in Nuclear Weapons Testing, 1945-1953 2. "Atomic-Bomb Tuna": The Trans-Pacific Politics of Radiation Protection Standards, 1954-1955 3. Epistemic Stalemate: Genetics and the Creation of Scientific Committees, 1954-1955 4. Epistemic Divide: The U.S. and British Scientific Committees, 1955-1956 5. Epistemic Negotiations: The United Nations Scientific Committee, 1956-1958 6. The Local Turn: Community-Based Fallout Surveys in the United States and Britain, 1958-1960 7. Fallout: The Making of the Partial Test Ban Treaty, 1961-1963 Conclusion: "We Can Live in Strength Without Adding to the Hazards of Life on This Planet"

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Book SynopsisChallenging nuclearism explores how a deliberate ‘normalisation’ of nuclear weapons has been constructed, why it has prevailed in international politics for over seventy years and why it is only now being questioned seriously. The book identifies how certain practices have enabled a small group of states to hold vast arsenals of these weapons of mass destruction and how the close control over nuclear decisions by a select group has meant that the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons have been disregarded for decades. The recent UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons will not bring about quick disarmament. It has been decried by the nuclear weapon states. But by rejecting nuclearism and providing a clear denunciation of nuclear weapons, it will challenge nuclear states in a way that has until now not been possible. Challenging nuclearism analyses the origins and repercussions of this pivotal moment in nuclear politics.Trade Review'As tensions rise, the existential threat of nuclear weapons becomes prominent once again and the world needs more critical assessments of what is being—and what could be—done to avoid the catastrophe of nuclear war or accident. Hanson’s book therefore provides a vital contribution that clearly sets out the case for why we need to reject nuclearism and make a world without nuclear weapons a reality.'Rhys Crilley, International Affairs'Australian political scientist Marianne Hanson has written a clear-eyed book about the prospects for nuclear disarmament. Hanson soberly concludes that the nuclear-armed states, left to control the terms, the pace and the outcome of an endeavour to which they have pledged themselves for decades, will never give up nuclear weapons. Nevertheless, a path forward to the elimination of nuclear weapons exists, and Hanson describes that path and the challenges along the way.'John Loretz, Medicine, Conflict and Survival -- .Table of ContentsIntroductionPart I: The dominance of nuclearism1 Identifying the elements of nuclearism: Traditional framings normalize nuclear weapons 2 Nuclearism today: Modernization, the persistence of deterrence, and the rise of new dangers3 Pushing for disarmament: A fruitless exercise Part II: The transition – from the humanitarian initiative to the prohibition treaty4 The recent humanitarian context: limiting the ‘calamities of war’5 Creating the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear WeaponsPart III: Rejecting nuclearism6 Rejecting Nuclearism I: a new discourse; bringing humanitarianism back; new voices and actors; challenging material spending 7 Rejecting Nuclearism II: disrupting the nuclear orderPart IV: Ending nuclearism?8 Challenges to and likely impacts of the treatyConclusionReferences

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Book SynopsisBestselling author, former British diplomat and expert on Russia Rodric Braithwaite's gripping account of the intense rivalry between Russia and the West In 1945, the atom bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and warfare was never the same again. Armageddon and Paranoia relates how the power of the atom was harnessed to produce weapons capable of destroying human civilisation and considers what this has done to the world. There are few villains in this story: on both sides of the Iron Curtain, dedicated scientists cracked the secrets of nature, dutiful military men planned out possible manoeuvres and politicians wrestled with potentially intolerable decisions. Patriotic citizens acquiesced to the idea that their country needed the ultimate means of defence. Some tried to grapple with the unanswerable question: what end could possibly be served by such fearsome means? Those who protested went unheard. None of them wanted to start a nuclear war, but all of them were paranoid about what the other side might do. The danger of annihilation by accident or misjudgement has not been entirely absent since. Rodric Braithwaite, author of bestsellers Moscow 1941 and Afgantsy, paints a vivid and detailed portrait of this intense period in history. Its implications are terrifyingly relevant today, as ignorant and thoughtless talk about nuclear war begins to spread once more.Trade ReviewA timely and sober book ... a trenchant and stimulating analysis of nuclear deterrence * Observer *A wise observer of how close we came to Armageddon * Prospect *Braithwaite ... is on top form. * Financial Times *Personal experience plus careful study have given him a remarkable platform from which he brilliantly dissects the ethical dilemmas. -- Jonathan Steele * Guardian *Scintillating. * The Times *Rodric Braithwaite has produced a masterly history of the nuclear age just in time since its dangers are back with a vengeance. Our leaders must take the lessons in this meticulous and revelatory narrative ... -- Strobe Talbott, Brookings Institution

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Book SynopsisThis is the story of a very British deterrent. Much has been written about the V-bombers – the Valiant, Victor and Vulcan – but virtually nothing has been said about their strategic nuclear strike role. How would Britain’s small force of subsonic bombers have retaliated following a Soviet attack? Would they have succeeded in visiting thermonuclear catastrophe on their Soviet targets? V-Bombers: Britain’s Nuclear Frontline in the Cold War is the first detailed account of the operational capability and credibility of the airborne nuclear deterrent during the peak years of confrontation with the Soviet Union. This book is the product of seven years of research by the author, Dr Tony Redding. It includes a great deal of fresh material on V-Force weapons, war mission, targeting, vulnerabilities and tactics for attacking targets within Soviet Russia. Over 70 V-Force aircrew and ground crew were interviewed and over 300 operational research reports and other official documents reviewed. The author demonstrates how the V-bombers retained a unilateral capacity to destroy a small number of the very largest cities in the Soviet Union in the period until the handover of the strategic nuclear deterrent to the Polaris submarines in 1969. This core retaliatory threat, centred on the destruction of Moscow and Leningrad, was judged severe enough to undermine Russia’s position in relation to the United States. In short, a few British V-bombers had the destructive capacity to destabilise the balance between the superpowers. The book concludes that, within the first few hours, a small force of surviving V-bombers could have unleashed the explosive power of all Allied bombs dropped on Germany in six years of war. A sobering thought and a fascinating and necessary read for all those interested in this period of history.

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Book SynopsisJapan is the only country in the world to have been attacked with nuclear weapons. Her anti-nuclear Civil Society Organisations - with their experiences of coping with the fallout of the atom bomb blasts - are passionately committed to their cause. While international treaties are final objectives, there is another effective diplomatic approach towards nuclear disarmament: CSO diplomacy might open the window of deadlocked inter-state negotiations.The role of civil society in the field of security is relatively new, coming to prominence during the establishment of the Convention on the Prohibition of Anti-Personnel Mines, the so-called Ottawa Treaty.The Treaty signalled that the role, presence and decision of governments are essential. This is an investigation into how Japanese CSOs have influenced the Japanese official policy with regards to nuclear disarmament. It focuses on the private diplomacy of CSOs; on the mitigation of inter-state conflicts that lie behind nuclear issues; and on the involvement of governments in social movements of nuclear disarmament.Dr Kazuhiro Tobisawa suggests that developing a solid understand of the pertinent issues surrounding Japaneses CSOs could lead to the resolution of half-a-century of failed attempts at nuclear disarmament.

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Book SynopsisThis book presents a comprehensive overview of Ukraine's nuclear history, beginning from its experiences within the Russian Empire in the early 20th century, through the Soviet period, to the emergence of Ukraine as an independent state that inherited the world’s third-largest nuclear arsenal. The book discusses the development of the nuclear infrastructure on Ukrainian soil and offers a rich and nuanced background of how Ukraine became an important and integrated part of the Soviet nuclear infrastructure. It further analyzes Ukraine's nuclear disarmament based on extensive primary source material and places the Ukrainian nuclear reversal process in a larger international political context where Russia´s, the United States, and other players´ actions are interpreted in the light of the impact on the current nuclear non-proliferation regime. Finally, the book presents the nuclear-related development after the nuclear disarmament. It describes the integration of Ukraine into the international community and the role of nuclear power in the energy mix of the nation today. Concluding, Ukraine´s adaptation to the new security situation after the Russian annexation of Crimea is described and discussed. This volume is a must-read for scholars, researchers, students, and policy-makers interested in a better understanding of Ukraine's nuclear history, the political background of the conflict in Eastern Ukraine, as well as of security studies and international relations in general. The work on this book has been supported by the Swedish Radiation Authority (SSM) in the Nuclear History of Ukraine Project (2015-2019).Trade Review“The real value of this book is that it engages in a thorough and timely manner with some deeply ingrained biases and assumptions.” (Jonathan Hibberd, International Affairs, Vol. 99 (1), 2023)Table of ContentsChapter 1. Introduction: Understanding the Nuclear History of Ukraine.- Chapter 2. Ukraine’s Contribution to The Soviet Union’s Nuclear Programme.- Chapter 3. Nuclear Disarmament of Ukraine.- Chapter 4. Nuclear Energy in Independent Ukraine.- Chapter 5. Conclusion: Lessons to Be Learned.

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Book SynopsisOriginating in the armed forces of the early 20th century, weapons based on chemical, biological or nuclear agents have become an everpresent threat that has not vanished after the end of the cold war. Since the technology to produce these agents is nowadays available to many countries and organizations, including those with terrorist aims, civil authorities across the world need to prepare against incidents involving these agents and train their personnel accordingly. As an introductory text on NBC CBRN weapons and agents, this book leads the reader from the scientific basics to the current threats and strategies to prepare against them. After an introductory part on the history of NBC CBRN weapons and their international control, the three classes of nuclear/radiological, biological, and chemical weapons are introduced, focusing on agents and delivery vehicles. Current methods for the rapid detection of NBC CBRN agents are introduced, and the principles of physical protection of humans and structures are explained. The final parts addresses more general issues of risk management, preparedness and response management, as the set of tools that authorities and civil services will be needed in a future CBRN scenario as well as the likely future scenarios that authorities and civil services will be faced with in the coming years. This book is a must-have for Health Officers, Public Health Agencies, and Military Authorities.Table of ContentsForeword XV Preface XVII About the Editors XIX List of Contributors XXIII Part I History and Treaties in CBRN -- Warfare and Terrorism 1 1 A Glance Back -- Myths and Facts about CBRN Incidents 3Andre Richardt and Frank Sabath 1.1 Introduction 3 1.2 History of Chemical Warfare 4 1.3 Introduction to Biological Warfare 13 1.4 Introduction to Radiological and Nuclear Warfare 22 2 International Treaties -- Only a Matter for Diplomats? 39Martin Schaarschmidt 2.1 Introduction to the Minefield of Negotiations 39 2.2 Why It Is so Difficult to Implement International Regulations? 42 2.3 Historic Development of Treaties -- the Link to the Incidents 46 2.4 Today's System of Treaties -- a Global Network 47 2.5 Nuclear Weapons 54 2.6 Organizations 63 2.7 Conclusions and Where Does the Road Lead? 64 Part II CBRN Characteristics -- Is There Something Inimitable? 67 3 Chemical Agents -- Small Molecules with Deadly Properties 69Hans-Jurgen Altmann, Silke Oelze, and Bernd Niemeyer 3.1 Are Special Properties Required for Chemical Warfare Agents? 69 3.2 How can we Classify Chemical Warfare Agents? 71 3.3 Properties of Chemical Warfare Agents 78 3.4 Choking and Irritant Agents 97 3.5 Incapacitating Agents 99 3.6 Dissemination Systems of Chemical Warfare Agents 99 3.7 Conclusions and Outlook 101 4 Characteristics of Biological Warfare Agents -- Diversity of Biology 103Birgit Hulseweh 4.1 What Is Special? 104 4.2 Types of Biological Agents 104 4.3 Risk Classification of Biological and Biological Warfare Agents 110 4.4 Routes of Entry 114 4.5 Origin, Spreading, and Availability 118 4.6 The Biological Event -- Borderline to Pandemics, Endemics, and Epidemics 121 4.7 The Bane of Biotechnology -- Genetically Engineered Pathogens 121 4.8 Conclusions and Outlook 123 5 Characteristics of Nuclear and Radiological Weapons 125Ronald Rambousky and Frank Sabath 5.1 Introduction to Nuclear Explosions 126 5.2 Direct Effects 133 5.3 Indirect Effects 149 5.4 Radiological Weapons 159 Part III CBRN Sensors -- Key Technology for an Effective CBRN Countermeasure Strategy 167 6 Why Are Reliable CBRN Detector Technologies Needed? 169Birgit Hulseweh, Hans-Jurgen Marschall, Ronald Rambousky, and Andre Richardt 6.1 Introduction 169 6.2 A Concept to Track CBRN Substances 170 6.3 Low-Level Exposure and Operational Risk Management 175 6.4 Conclusions and Outlook 177 7 Analysis of Chemical Warfare Agents -- Searching for Molecules 179Andre Richardt, Martin Jung, and Bernd Niemeyer 7.1 Analytical Chemistry -- the Scientific Basis for Searching Molecules 180 7.2 Standards for Chemical Warfare Agent Sensor Systems and Criteria for Deployment 182 7.3 False Alarm Rate and Limit of Sensitivity 184 7.4 Technologies for Chemical Warfare Agent Sensor Systems 185 7.5 Testing of Chemical Warfare Agent Detectors 203 7.6 Conclusions and Future Developments 206 8 Detection and Analysis of Biological Agents 211Birgit Hulseweh and Hans-Jurgen Marschall 8.1 What Makes the Difference? 212 8.2 The Ideal Detection and Identification Platform 215 8.3 Bioaerosols: Particulate and Biological Background 216 8.4 Aerosol Detection -- A Tool for Threat Monitoring 217 8.5 Sampling of Biological Agents 223 8.6 Identification of Biological Warfare Agents 229 8.7 Developing and Upcoming Technologies 238 8.8 Conclusions 239 9 Measurement of Ionizing Radiation 243Ronald Rambousky 9.1 Why Is Detection of Ionizing Radiation So Important? 244 9.2 Physical Quantities used to Describe Radioactivity and Ionizing Radiation 248 9.3 Different Measuring Tasks Concerning Ionizing Radiation 251 9.4 Basics of Radiation Detectors 256 9.5 Gamma Dose Rate and Detection of Gamma Radiation 266 9.6 Conclusions and Outlook 271 Part IV Technologies for Physical Protection 273 10 Filter Technology -- Clean Air is Required 275Andre Richardt and Thomas Dawert 10.1 Filters -- Needed Technology Equipment for Collective and Individual Protection 275 10.2 General Considerations 276 10.3 What are the Principles for Filtration and Air-Cleaning? 278 10.4 Test Methods 286 10.5 Selection Process for CBRN Filters 290 10.6 Conclusions and Outlook 292 11 Individual Protective Equipment -- Do You Know What to Wear? 295Karola Hagner and Friedrich Hesse 11.1 Basics of Individual Protection 296 11.2 Which Challenges for Individual Protection Equipment (IPE) Can Be Identified? 296 11.3 The Way to Design Individual Protective Equipment 298 11.4 Function 299 11.5 Ergonomics -- a Key Element for Individual Protection Equipment 301 11.6 Donning and Doffing -- Training Is Required 305 11.7 Overview of IPE Items -- They Have to Act in Concert 306 11.8 Quality Assurance 326 11.9 Workplace Safety 327 11.10 Future Prospects 327 12 Collective Protection -- A Secure Area in a Toxic Environment 331Andre Richardt and Bernd Niemeyer 12.1 Why Is Collective Protection of Interest? 332 12.2 Collective Protection Systems -- Required for Different Scenarios 337 12.3 Basic Design 341 12.4 Conclusions and Outlook 348 Part V Cleanup after a CBRN Event 351 13 Decontamination of Chemical Warfare Agents -- What is Thorough? 353Hans Jurgen Altmann, Martin Jung, and Andre Richardt 13.1 What Is Decontamination? 353 13.2 Dispersal and Fate of Chemical Warfare Agents 354 13.3 Decontamination Media for Chemical Warfare Agents 356 13.4 Selected Chemical Warfare Agents and Decont Reaction Schemes 369 13.5 Soman (GD) 372 13.6 VX 372 13.7 Catalysis in Decontamination 373 13.8 Decont Procedures 375 13.9 Conclusions and Outlook 380 14 Principles and Practice of Disinfection of Biological Warfare Agents -- How Clean is Clean Enough? 383Andre Richardt and Birgit Hulseweh 14.1 General Principles of Disinfection and Decontamination 384 14.2 Mechanisms of Action of Biocides against Microorganisms 385 14.3 Levels of Disinfection 390 14.4 Biological Target Sites of Selected Biocides 393 14.5 The Spores Problem 395 14.6 Inactivation as Kinetic Process 399 14.7 Evaluation of Antimicrobial Efficiency 401 14.8 Carrier Tests versus Suspension Tests 403 14.9 Resistance to Biocide Inactivation -- a Growing Concern 405 14.10 New and Emerging Technologies for Disinfection 408 14.11 "Is Clean Clean Enough'' or "How Clean Is Clean Enough''? 408 15 Radiological/Nuclear Decontamination -- Reduce the Risk 411Nikolaus Schneider 15.1 Why Is Radiological/Nuclear Decontamination So Special? 412 15.2 Contamination 414 15.3 Decontamination 418 15.4 Conclusions and Outlook 428 Part VI CBRN Risk Management -- Are We Prepared to Respond? 431 16 Preparedness 433Marc-Michael Blum, Andre Richardt, and Kai Kehe 16.1 Introduction to Risk Management 433 16.2 Key Elements Influencing a Counter-CBRN Strategy 436 16.3 A Special Strategy for CBRN 438 16.4 Proliferation Prevention 456 16.5 Active Countermeasures 458 16.6 If Things Get Real: Responding to a CBRN Event 459 16.7 Research 473 16.8 Aftermath Action -- Lessons Learned 474 16.9 Conclusions and Outlook 475 References 476 Index 479

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