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Five Myths About Nuclear Weapons Paperback – January 21, 2014

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Ward Wilson (Author)
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4.1 out of 5 stars 35 customer reviews
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 208 pages
  • Publisher: Mariner Books; Reprint edition (January 21, 2014)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0544103254
  • ISBN-13: 978-0544103252
  • Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 0.6 x 8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #803,080 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsA Thought Provoking Book, and a Must Read
By MARTIN HELLMAN on January 15, 2013
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
Because this is my primary area of academic interest and I've read extensively on the issues treated here, I wasn't sure how much time I would spend reading this book. But, when I got my copy, I found myself drawn in to the point that I finished it the same day it arrived! That hasn't happened in a long time, and is a tribute to both Ward Wilson's masterful writing style and his concise arguments.

To put this praise in context, I should note that I've criticized an earlier paper of Wilson's for claiming that Hiroshima "played virtually no role" in winning World War II. So I was very pleased to find that this book dealt with that question even handedly. (For those wanting a deep analysis of this question, I'd recommend Hasegawa's "Racing the Enemy.")

In reading this book, it helps to keep in mind Wilson's admonition on page 19: "This book challenges conventional thinking about nuclear weapons. It raises questions about fundamental issues. You may find that you don't agree with all of the objections raised here. That would not be surprising. People don't usually agree completely on anything having to do with fundamental issues, much less challenges to long-established ideas. But I hope you will come away with the conviction that there are unaddressed problems in the thinking about nuclear weapons, problems that matter. I hope you will feel that some sort of reexamination and rethinking of those ideas is needed."

That kind of critical reexamination is desperately needed in all areas of national importance, and I highly recommend "Five Myths About Nuclear Weapons" as an excellent starting point.
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5.0 out of 5 starsOn the uselessness of nuclear weapons
By Curious Wavefunction TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE VOICE on January 24, 2013
Format: Hardcover Vine Customer Review of Free Product ( What's this? )
Two foundational beliefs have colored our views of nuclear weapons since the end of World War 2; one, that they were essential or at least very significant for ending the war, and two, that they have been and will continue to be linchpins of deterrence. These beliefs have, in one way or another, guided all our thinking about these mythic creations. Ward Wilson who is at the Monterey Institute of International Studies wants to demolish these and other myths about nukes in a new book titled "5 Myths about Nuclear Weapons", and I have seen few volumes which deliver their message so effectively in such few words. Below are Wilson's thoughts about the two dominant nuclear myths interspersed with a few of my own.

"Nuclear weapons were paramount in ending World War 2″.

This is where it all begins. And the post-facto rationalization certainly bolsters the analysis; brilliant scientists worked on a fearsome weapon in a race against the Nazis, and when the Nazis were defeated, handed it over to world leaders who used to it bring a swift end to a most horrible conflict. Psychologically it fits into a satisfying and noble narrative. Hiroshima and Nagasaki have become so completely ingrained in our minds as symbols of the power of the bomb that we scarcely think about whether they really served the roles that they have been ascribed over the last half century. In one sense the atomic bombings of Japan have dictated all our consequent beliefs about weapons of mass destruction. But troubling and mounting evidence has emerged in the last half century that is now consequential enough to deal a major blow to this thinking.Read more ›
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5.0 out of 5 starsWell written, concise, and a topic that's actually life and death to most of us
By Arno Vosk on January 21, 2015
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
Nuclear weapons were, rightly, a major topic of international concern in the 1950's and 60's when I was growing up. Today there is no more Cold War, and most of the discussion has to do with terrorists and vague threats from North Korea and Iran. But the U.S. and Russia still have thousands of nuclear warheads aimed at one another, to say nothing of other major powers like England, France, China, India, Pakistan and Israel. The threat of obliteration still hangs over our heads, even though we don't think about it as much.

50 years ago there was a lot of discussion about nuclear weapons. The men who invented and actually used those weapons were still alive, and we school kids had to practice hiding under our desks a couple of times every year--as if that would actually keep us safe if our cities were bombed! Today the discussion has died down to almost nothing, and partly because so many people believe the facts are established and there is little worth debating any more. Ward Wilson shows beyond any doubt that this is not so. He articulately challenges the fundamental ideas upon which our (and probably the other nuclear powers') policies are based. The idea that the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was what convinced the Japanese to surrender in 1945. That America's nuclear threat was what forced Khrushchev to back down in the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. That strategic bombing of civilian targets wins wars.

The author is pretty honest. He doesn't assert that his is the last word on any topic. He often ends a section by saying just that an important question hasn't really be settled, and that the problem is that no one seems to be concerned about it any more.Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 starsMore mindnumbingly stupid Liberal pseudo history.

More mindnumbingly stupid Liberal pseudo history.

Published 11 days ago by John A. Kantor
4.0 out of 5 starsPerhaps a little TOO eager at times to frequently reassert ...

Perhaps a little TOO eager at times to frequently reassert the main message, and often repeating itself. Read more

Published 1 month ago by JStevens
1.0 out of 5 starsNarrow Minded

Written like an ill informed war college thesis. Fails to dive deep into the insights of strategic deterrence and nature of post-nuclear conventional warfare.

Published 2 months ago by Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 starsFour Stars

Interesting and thought provoking. An entirely new way of viewing our hate/love relationship with the Bomb.

Published 10 months ago by Gopal
3.0 out of 5 starsGood, accessible source on the Japanese WW2 surrender

If you want to know more about what brought the Japanese to surrender in World War II, this is a good book to read. Read more

Published 18 months ago by Christopher Paul Winter
5.0 out of 5 starssobering and useful .I lived through a lot of this.

I remember Hiroshiam and Nagasaki although only 122 at the time.Short but pithy especially about jJapan's surrender and the Soviet factor which looms even larger to me!

Published on March 16, 2014 by rh
5.0 out of 5 starsFive myths is the first realistic challenge to the utility of nuclear...

This concise and well-written book is a unique challenge to the conventional "wisdoms" which have come to dominate rhetoric about the utility of nuclear weapons. Read more

Published on February 19, 2014 by Sandra Levi
5.0 out of 5 starsGreat book.

This book raises serious questions about the viability of nuclear deterrence and the usefulness of nuclear weapons. Read more

Published on July 4, 2013 by Steve
4.0 out of 5 starsPreaching to the choir

"Five Myths About Nuclear Weapons" is a well-thought out, well-researched, and well-stated book that is ultimately pointless. Read more

Published on April 15, 2013 by Zack Davisson
4.0 out of 5 starsFive Alleged Misperceptions -- Not Myths

Clearly the author is grabbing attention by boldly naming this book "Five Myths...". I'd call it five alleged mis-perceptions about nuclear weapons use and strategy. Read more

Published on April 15, 2013 by D Jones

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