Nuclear War: A Scenario
$0.99
The INSTANT New York Times bestseller
Instant Los Angeles Times bestseller
One of NPR’s Books We Love
One of Newsweek Staffers’ Favorite Books of the Year
Shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize
“In Nuclear War: A Scenario, Annie Jacobsen gives us a vivid picture of what could happen if our nuclear guardians fail…Terrifying.”—Wall Street Journal
There is only one scenario other than an asteroid strike that could end the world as we know it in a matter of hours: nuclear war. And one of the triggers for that war would be a nuclear missile inbound toward the United States.
Every generation, a journalist has looked deep into the heart of the nuclear military establishment: the technologies, the safeguards, the plans, and the risks. These investigations are vital to how we understand the world we really live in—where one nuclear missile will beget one in return, and where the choreography of the world’s end requires massive decisions made on seconds’ notice with information that is only as good as the intelligence we have.
Pulitzer Prize finalist Annie Jacobsen’s Nuclear War: A Scenario explores this ticking-clock scenario, based on dozens of exclusive new interviews with military and civilian experts who have built the weapons, have been privy to the response plans, and have been responsible for those decisions should they have needed to be made. Nuclear War: A Scenario examines the handful of minutes after a nuclear missile launch. It is essential reading, and unlike any other book in its depth and urgency.
JML –
One of the Best Books Ever
It’s hard to express how good Nuclear War: A Scenario is, but let’s start with Jacobsen herself: articulate, deeply informed, plausible. I’ve watched several podcasts with her discussing the book’s contents, and she’s totally convincing. Too bad for us: that angelic voice telling you you’re doomed. Then there’s the nail-biting narrative: sometimes Jacobsen uses sentence fragments (as opposed to complete subject/verb/object constructs) to throw you as the reader off guard, or to emphasize the dire nature of events that she’s describing, and add more discomfort/urgency to a dire global situation that unfolds, minute by minute, or second by second. Maybe Jacobsen always writes like this, but if I’m gonna die, I want someone shouting urgent facts rather than spouting “literature.” What’s really uncomfortable about this narrative, though, is social media/the daily news, which validate what Jacobsen’s predicting. All it takes is one rogue wave to knock everybody to smithereens. We’ve got loose cannons in governments broadcasting threats every day now–geez! Maybe the negative payload of a book such as Nuclear War is having to know something we wish, wish, wish weren’t true–and if you experienced “drop” under a desk in the fourth grade, like I did, you remember the perpetual, lurking Cold War nuclear threat (like “dropping” would’ve done any good)–but now Jacobsen’s book updates that, telling us on how terrifying and real this threat is. So, it’s not better: it’s worse. But Is it better to ostrich this out, or realize how tenuous people’s individual and collective destinies currently are? Get Nuclear War: A Scenario and find out. Now I’m going to read the rest of Jacobsen’s books–the subject, I understand, being “pure evil” in every one of them–to see what the buildup to Nuclear War is: what covert action, killing machine mentality, or arrogance and stupidity is behind this book? Yeah. Maybe I don’t want to know, but because Jacobsen’s effective, I’m gonna do it.
Nathan B –
Captivating, horrifying, and haunting
Whew…. where to begin with this book? I’ll start by saying I certainly have never read anything quite like it! But first, a digression:I’ve professionally published two novels about a zombie apocalypse and written multiple other tales focused on the end of the world. In creating those stories, I have spent an inordinate amount of time both researching nightmarish scenarios and pondering how our society could crumble. Normally, such terrible things are casually dismissed by my psyche after many years of desensitizing horror love that have insured I am effectively broken regarding any “typical” reaction to horrifying things. Needless to say, I went into this book thinking it would be interesting and nothing more. I was very wrong.This story haunted me from the start. It is written in a very digestible format that interjects history lessons and pertinent interviews throughout its pages. These interjections allow for the scenario described to carry the weight it deservedly should. All the while, current events added further relevance to the tale which, in all, created a unique journey into an abject horror that was as uncomfortably believable as it is unfortunately plausible.The overall experience was A LOT to get through. I found myself having to take breaks as my anxiety level surged above the interest for what was to come in the story. Never has a book elicited such a response with me. I was as captivated as I was horrified. In the end, the author succeeded in her mission of convincing me that we exist on the razor’s edge and that edge has zero room for nuclear weapons.Please read this book. It is vitally important that we all come to the realization that our world would be better without these horrifying weapons. They do not protect or defend – they annihilate. If we don’t reach that collective realization as a species, then it is all too possible that we may no longer have a world to protect.
原 史郎 –
A good point is that all descriptions are based upon academic facts.A bad point is that it doesn’t describe people killing in this war.
golo45 –
J’ai dévoré cet ouvrage d’une seule traite. L’auteure nous offre un récit sombre, détaillé minute par minute, de l’horreur absolue qu’est une guerre nucléaire, chimique, totale. Elle a réussi à clarifier les différentes notions que j’avais sur les conséquences d’un tel conflit. À plusieurs reprises, elle cite N. Khrouchtchev, qui aurait déclaré : “Les survivants envieront les morts” dans un tel scénario.Pour ne pas ajouter à la noirceur de ce drame, avec ses milliards de morts, l’auteure ne mentionne pas toutes les nouvelles armes de destruction massive : l’ingéniosité humaine dans ce domaine est sans limites. Elle rappelle que toutes les grandes inventions au service de l’humanité ont leur versant négatif, pouvant mener à sa destruction.Écrit en anglais, l’ouvrage est facile à lire pour ceux qui ont une certaine maîtrise de la langue. Il sera probablement traduit en français.
Rolf KANT –
Dagens människor okunniga om kärnvapen och hur innehavarna av dessa tänker och planerar. Mycket angelägen information , seriöst insamlad och presenterad på ett effektivt sätt. På några få dagar kan möjligheten för livet på planeten Jorden förintas. Detta är krass verklighet och endast ett felbeslut borta..
FDS –
This book is really scary!I think it is important to read it to know that everyone should do everything possible to prevent something so horrible.We need to make sure that we elect responsible and intelligent leaders—unfortunately, we are failing to do so at the moment.
mholyome –
It’s a quick read, and it’ll give you nightmares. Best to memory hole this one after reading it. I enjoyed it, but I’d rather not dwell on what I’ve learned if I want to sleep again any time soon.