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Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety

Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety

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Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety

by Schlosser, Eric

  • Used
  • Hardcover
  • first
Condition
See description
ISBN 10
1594202273
ISBN 13
9781594202278
Seller
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About This Item

New York: Penguin Press HC, The, 2013. First Edition, First Printing. Hardcover. pp. xxiii, 632. 8vo. No detectable flaws, bright, clean, and unmarked with tight, sound binding. Appears unread; as new in fine dustjacket.

Synopsis

A myth-shattering exposé of America’s nuclear weapons Famed investigative journalist Eric Schlosser digs deep to uncover secrets about the management of America’s nuclear arsenal. 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? That question has never been resolved—and Schlosser reveals how the combination of human fallibility and technological complexity still poses a grave risk to mankind. While the harms of global warming increasingly dominate the news, the equally dangerous yet more immediate threat of nuclear weapons has been largely forgotten. Written with the vibrancy of a first-rate thriller, Command and Control interweaves the minute-by-minute story of an accident at a nuclear missile silo in rural Arkansas with a historical narrative that spans more than fifty years. It depicts the urgent effort by American scientists, policy makers, 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. At the heart of the book lies the struggle, amid the rolling hills and small farms of Damascus, Arkansas, to prevent the explosion of a ballistic missile carrying the most powerful nuclear warhead ever built by the United States. Drawing on recently declassified documents and interviews with people 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. Through the details of a single accident, Schlosser illustrates how an unlikely event can become unavoidable, how small risks can have terrible consequences, and how the most brilliant minds in the nation can only provide us with an illusion of control. Audacious, gripping, and unforgettable, Command and Control is a tour de force of investigative journalism, an eye-opening look at the dangers of America’s nuclear age.

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Details

Bookseller
Black's Fine Books & Manuscripts CA (CA)
Bookseller's Inventory #
2738
Title
Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety
Author
Schlosser, Eric
Format/Binding
Hardcover
Book Condition
Used
Quantity Available
1
Edition
First Edition, First Printing
ISBN 10
1594202273
ISBN 13
9781594202278
Publisher
Penguin Press HC, The
Place of Publication
New York
Date Published
2013
Keywords
history; ussr; communism; politics; political theory

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Glossary

Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:

First Edition
In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
Fine
A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
Tight
Used to mean that the binding of a book has not been overly loosened by frequent use.

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