City Libraries, City of Gold Coast

Command and control, nuclear weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the illusion of safety, Eric Schlosser

eng

Includes bibliographical references and index

index present

non fiction

Command and control

bibliography

Eric Schlosser

nuclear weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the illusion of safety

This book 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, 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. 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 men who designed and routinely handled nuclear weapons, this book 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, this book is a tour de force of investigative journalism, an eye-opening look at the dangers of America's nuclear age

Author's note -- Selected cast of characters -- Acronyms and abbreviations -- The Titan -- Not good -- New wave -- No lone zone -- Spheres within spheres -- Potential hazards -- Machinery of control -- The best, the biggest, and the most -- In violation -- Megadeath -- Accidents will happen -- Acceptable risks -- The optimum mix -- Breaking in -- Out of control -- Decapitation -- The brink -- An abnornal environment -- Damascus -- Balanced and unbalanced -- The wrong tape -- Like hell -- Con.rm or deny -- The end -- Epilogue

adult

Nuclear weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the illusion of safety