Alfred Street (University of Auckland Store)
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Command & Control
Paperback Edition: 1
A groundbreaking account of accidents, near-misses, extraordinary heroism and technological breakthroughs, Command and Control explores the dilemma that has existed since the dawn of the nuclear age: how do you deploy weapons of mass destruction without being destroyed by them? Famed investigative journalist Eric Schlosser
reveals that this question has never been resolved, and why nuclear weapons still pose a grave risk to mankind. Command 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 by American scientists, policymakers and military officers 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.
Cleverly written and engaging, I could not stop reading Command and Control as my disbelief and horrified amazement continued to grow. A bomb falls out of a plane and detonates in the front yard of a family home - and the stories just get worse.
This account of close-calls and mishaps with weapons of mass destruction will leave you marvelling at humankind's inexplicable continuing survival. Fair warning: You may never sleep again!"
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ubiq Staff Pick! by Tammy
Eric Schlosser's first book "Fast Food Nation" made us re-examine our love-affair with convenience food and the McDonaldisation of the world. In Command and Control Schlosser turns his formidable investigative skills to the unbelievable and often terrifying history of nuclear weapons. Covering events from the hand-assembly of the first atomic bomb, held together with duct-tape; through to today's modern, computer-guided weapons; Schlosser weaves together a brilliantly researched narrative. Historically important events are interspersed with a harrowing account of the missile malfunction at Damascus, Arkansas in 1980, although the most chilling and haunting moments come from the attitudes of the military and government in regard to human collateral.Cleverly written and engaging, I could not stop reading Command and Control as my disbelief and horrified amazement continued to grow. A bomb falls out of a plane and detonates in the front yard of a family home - and the stories just get worse.
This account of close-calls and mishaps with weapons of mass destruction will leave you marvelling at humankind's inexplicable continuing survival. Fair warning: You may never sleep again!"
Pages : 656
Publication date : 2013-09-25
Publisher : Penguin Books
Subjects: Non-fiction, Humanities, Politics, Nuclear Weapons