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Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety Paperback – Illustrated, August 26, 2014

by Eric Schlosser (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 4,023 ratings
Editors' pick Best History
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The Oscar-shortlisted documentary Command and Control, directed by Robert Kenner, finds its origins in Eric Schlosser's book and continues to explore the little-known history of the management and safety concerns of America's nuclear aresenal.

“A devastatingly lucid and detailed new history of nuclear weapons in the U.S. Fascinating.” —Lev Grossman, TIME Magazine

“Perilous and gripping . . . Schlosser skillfully weaves together an engrossing account of both the science and the politics of nuclear weapons safety.” —San Francisco Chronicle

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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  1. Print length
    656 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    August 26, 2014
  4. Dimensions
    5.51 x 1.3 x 8.42 inches
  5. ISBN-10
    9780143125785
  6. ISBN-13
    978-0143125785
  7. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“Deeply reported, deeply frightening . . . a techno-thriller of the first order.” —Los Angeles Times

“An excellent journalistic investigation of the efforts made since the first atomic bomb was exploded, outside Alamogordo, New Mexico, on July 16, 1945, to put some kind of harness on nuclear weaponry. By a miracle of information management, Schlosser has synthesized a huge archive of material, including government reports, scientific papers, and a substantial historical and polemical literature on nukes, and transformed it into a crisp narrative covering more than fifty years of scientific and political change. And he has interwoven that narrative with a hair-raising, minute-by-minute account of an accident at a Titan II missile silo in Arkansas, in 1980, which he renders in the manner of a techno-thriller . . . Command and Control is how nonfiction should be written.” —Louis Menand, The New Yorker

“A devastatingly lucid and detailed new history of nuclear weapons in the U.S. . . . fascinating.” —Lev Grossman, TIME Magazine

“Command and Control ranks among the most nightmarish books written in recent years; and in that crowded company it bids fair to stand at the summit. It is the more horrific for being so incontrovertibly right and so damnably readable. Page after relentless page, it drives the vision of a world trembling on the edge of a fatal precipice deep into your reluctant mind... a work with the multilayered density of an ambitiously conceived novel . . . Schlosser has done what journalism does at its best when at full stretch: he has spent time—years—researching, interviewing, understanding and reflecting to give us a piece of work of the deepest import.” —
Financial Times

“The strength of Schlosser's writing derives from his ability to carry a wealth of startling detail (did you know that security at Titan II missile bases was so lapse you could break into one with just a credit card?) on a confident narrative path.” —The Guardian

“Perilous and gripping . . . Schlosser skillfully weaves together an engrossing account of both the science and the politics of nuclear weapons safety . . . The story of the missile silo accident unfolds with the pacing, thrill and techno details of an episode of 24.” —San Francisco Chronicle

“Disquieting but riveting . . . fascinating . . . Schlosser’s readers (and he deserves a great many) will be struck by how frequently the people he cites attribute the absence of accidental explosions and nuclear war to divine intervention or sheer luck rather than to human wisdom and skill. Whatever was responsible, we will clearly need many more of it in the years to come.” —New York Times Book Review

“Easily the most unsettling work of nonfiction I've ever read, Schlosser's six-year investigation of America's ‘broken arrows’ (nuclear weapons mishaps) is by and large historical—this stuff is top secret, after all—but the book is beyond relevant. It's critical reading in a nation with thousands of nukes still on hair-trigger alert . . . Command and Control reads like a character-driven thriller as Schlosser draws on his deep reporting, extensive interviews, and documents obtained via the Freedom of Information Act to demonstrate how human error, computer glitches, dilution of authority, poor communications, occasional incompetence, and the routine hoarding of crucial information have nearly brought about our worst nightmare on numerous occasions.” —Mother Jones

“Eric Schlosser detonates a truth bomb in Command and Control, a powerful expose about America’s nuclear weapons.” —Vanity Fair

“Nail-biting . . . thrilling . . . Mixing expert commentary with hair-raising details of a variety of mishaps, [Eric Schlosser] makes the convincing case that our best control systems are no match for human error, bad luck, and ever-increasing technological complexity.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Vivid and unsettling . . . An exhaustive, unnerving examination of the illusory safety of atomic arms.” —Kirkus (starred review)

“The lesson of this powerful and disturbing book is that the world’s nuclear arsenals are not as safe as they should be. We should take no comfort in our skill and good fortune in preventing a nuclear catastrophe, but urgently extend our maximum effort to assure that a nuclear weapon does not go off by accident, mistake, or miscalculation.” —Lee H. Hamilton, former U.S. Representative; Co-Chair, Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future; Director, the Center on Congress at Indiana University

About the Author

Eric Schlosser is the author of The New York Times bestsellers Fast Food Nation and Reefer Madness. His work has appeared in The Atlantic Monthly, Rolling Stone, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, and The Nation.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0143125788
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin Books; Reprint edition (August 26, 2014)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 656 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780143125785
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0143125785
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.51 x 1.3 x 8.42 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 4,023 ratings

About the author

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Eric Schlosser

Eric Schlosser

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ERIC SCHLOSSER is the author of The New York Times bestsellers Fast Food Nation and Reefer Madness. His work has appeared in The Atlantic Monthly, Rolling Stone, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, and The Nation.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4,023 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find the book interesting and enjoyable. They praise the well-researched and detailed content. Many find the story frightening and disturbing, with enough horror to make one sympathize. The pacing is described as impressive and solidly written. Opinions differ on the storytelling style, with some finding it riveting and well-written, while others feel it jumps around a bit.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

Select to learn more
ReadabilityResearch qualityScariness levelPacingCharacter developmentValue for moneyAuthor qualityStorytelling
410 customers mention "Readability"410 positive0 negative

Customers find the book interesting and enjoyable. They say it's an informative read that stimulates further reading and thinking. While it may be long, they find it not boring.

"...This book was great, and it offered a rare glimpse - into the sky, beneath the waves, and under the prairie, into the secret lives of young men who..." Read more

"...and security, and who shaped SAC into a modern, reliable, and efficient force...." Read more

"...Thus the book is well worth the read even if at times it can be a bit off-putting in style." Read more

"...Anyway, it's a great read, but existentially... worrying...." Read more

320 customers mention "Research quality"287 positive33 negative

Customers find the book's research thorough and informative. They appreciate the author's detailed and extensive research, including cogent observations on past and present nuclear weapons. The book is considered an important read that provides enough detail for lay readers.

"...This book was great, and it offered a rare glimpse - into the sky, beneath the waves, and under the prairie, into the secret lives of young men who..." Read more

"...This is both a tremendously informative, and at times gripping, narrative that should be read by anyone concerned with the safety of nuclear weapons..." Read more

"...Scrupulously accurate, extremely well footnoted and powerfully told in a fast-paced, highly readable style, "Command and Control" presents two..." Read more

"...This is a serious scholarly work and, at 632 pages, a long one...." Read more

201 customers mention "Scariness level"163 positive38 negative

Customers find the book's content disturbing and engaging. They describe it as a well-written account of the U.S. nuclear weapons program that reads like a suspense novel. The real-life stories are interesting and shocking, making the book an informative yet frightening look into how poorly the nuclear weapons have been secured.

"...This is both a tremendously informative, and at times gripping, narrative that should be read by anyone concerned with the safety of nuclear weapons..." Read more

"...It's well written, filled with enough absolute bonkers horror to even make one sympathize with McNamara. Poor poor McNamara......" Read more

"...This part of the book reads like a techno thriller and could have stood alone...." Read more

"...It's terrifying, exhilarating and leaves you dumbfounded by the dichotomy of brilliance and madness inherent to the human condition...." Read more

92 customers mention "Pacing"77 positive15 negative

Customers appreciate the book's pacing. They find the material serious and timely, presented in a well-researched yet simple way. The book is solidly written, researched, and documented. It provides an engaging and scary account of nuclear readiness and error.

"An excellent read. Riveting. Gripping. Chilling. I am amazed that we actually survived the Cold War...." Read more

"...Scrupulously accurate, extremely well footnoted and powerfully told in a fast-paced, highly readable style, "Command and Control" presents two..." Read more

"...Overall?: I blew through this book because it is really well done...." Read more

"...There are 94 pages of end notes, many of which expand substantially upon items in the main text." Read more

11 customers mention "Character development"8 positive3 negative

Customers enjoy the well-developed characters. They find the book blends historical facts and technical details with a nice portrayal of real people. The book covers the personalities and issues of the missile system thoroughly, bringing the central figures to life.

"...part of the book is told in riveting narrative, with a fascinating cast of characters and blow-by-blow recollection of their actions and..." Read more

"...It is supremely researched and portrays the real humans who did all the work with compassion and heart...." Read more

"...sounding 'Damascus Accident' is compelling, with the central figures brought to life well...." Read more

"...On top of that, the cast of characters is so immense that I also found myself getting lost in who is who...." Read more

10 customers mention "Value for money"10 positive0 negative

Customers find the book good value for money. They say it's worth the read and not a waste of time.

"...after you read this, but it is profound reading, and absolutely worth the price of admission...." Read more

"...It's a little pricey for my taste, even on Kindle, but well worth your time and money." Read more

"...I was thrilled with your price for the book. The book is thicker and will take longer to read lhan I expected...." Read more

"...An enjoyable weekend, not wasted." Read more

9 customers mention "Author quality"9 positive0 negative

Customers praise the author's work. They find him a skilled investigator and writer, with a gripping story. The book is well-researched, with in-depth interviews and an extensive bibliography. Readers appreciate the author's engaging writing style and discussions of political infighting.

"...There are excellent discussions of the political in-fighting and the pros and cons of military control over the weapons...." Read more

"...the Titan disaster and the history is just about perfect and a great author hook (like a guitar riff from an Eric Clapton song)...." Read more

"...There is considerable detail, information directly from interviews with participants, and information from numerous other government and non-..." Read more

"...He doesn't preach or analyze. He is a brilliant reporter and has written a gripping and fascinating story. And it's all true." Read more

72 customers mention "Storytelling"39 positive33 negative

Customers have different views on the storytelling. Some find it riveting and well-written, with a fascinating cast of characters. They appreciate the intertwining of two stories and the factual account that is easy to read. However, others feel the story jumps around and is disjointed, leaving one story half-way through. Overall, opinions differ on how engaging the narrative is and how informative it is.

"...If one can work around the style, the book tells a compelling tale...." Read more

"...Damascus incident was, I thought, the best part, but it is broken up into so many pieces by intervening historical pieces that keeping the narrative..." Read more

"...The narrative is excellent...." Read more

"...He jumps around in time far too much and I got lost...." Read more

Wonderfully Disturbing Read
5 out of 5 stars
Wonderfully Disturbing Read
This book is a great read in the same way that smoking PCP is a great high. It's terrifying, exhilarating and leaves you dumbfounded by the dichotomy of brilliance and madness inherent to the human condition. It might put your ass in prison too. Oh wait, that's just PCP.All joking aside, this book is staggeringly well researched, and wonderfully entertaining at the same time. It gives you a deep and impactful appreciation of the characters involved in the history of the American nuclear arsenal, as well as the visionary... Uh, vision that these people had. I found the stories of Curtis LeMay and Robert McNamara especially poignant, especially their decline and fall in the years post-Vietnam. It's through the lens of history that we can view these once maligned characters as brilliant, sad and complicated as the very weapons of mass destruction that their lives centered around.Eric Schlosser does a wonderful job of punctuating the solemnity and science of nuclear development with the developing story of the Damascus Incident, which has all the suspense of the very best season of your favorite thriller TV show. If I had any criticisms at all, it's that the research can at times get bogged down in pedantic detail, but these instances are few and far between, and very quickly ramps up the action at every turn in between.This isn't Anne of Green Gables. You won't sleep better after you read this, but it is profound reading, and absolutely worth the price of admission. Plus you'll look cool at your next cocktail party when you tell your friends about the differences between an implosion atom bomb and a tritium-deuterium ICBM.Just get it!
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Top reviews from the United States

Kevin
5.0 out of 5 stars Chilling. Technical and Dark but NEVER boring. Stories that must be told of men who kept us safe while trying not to kill us all
Reviewed in the United States on July 21, 2016
Verified Purchase
An excellent read. Riveting. Gripping. Chilling. I am amazed that we actually survived the Cold War. I bought the Kindle edition of this - so my comments may or may not be applicable to the paper volume. First of all its REALLY a long book. 632 pages, with 485 being the actual book and the rest being acknowledgements, bibliography, and index pages. There is a glossary in the front to explain the military and nuclear weapons jargon as the book is VERY heavy on acronyms - for example RFHCO (Rocket Fuel Handler's Coverall Outfit) the Hazmat suits worn by propellant transfer crews. This jargon and technical terminology is NOT superfluous, it is essential to the story. This is a book where you are going to learn "a new language of alphabet soup" even if you were in the military, even if you worked with nuclear weapons as most of the book is specific to USAF SAC. (Strategic Air Command)

This is NOT "light reading" and this is not a "feel good read". It is dark. It is scary and real people died. Its a miracle millions more didn't. This is an objective book, that talks about nuclear weapons safety, the culture of secrecy, what could have happen, what did happen and what nearly happened. If you are a peacenik / anti-nuke this book will make you wet your pants. If you have ever worked or served with or around nuclear weapons, you will find this even more scary reading... I for one, falling the later category was like "they did WHAT?????" SERIOUSLY??? (Lets just say safety has gotten better (I hope) than in the early days chronicled by this book, and ultimately leading up to the end of the cold war.) Some of the design flaws discussed leave my scratching my head, saying "My God, what were they thinking?"

The book basically takes two, intertwining parts.... One is a narrative richly recounting the accident at a Titan II missile complex in Damascus Arkansas in 1980. Basically an airman dropped a socket, which punched a hole in the side of the missile, which was topped with a 9 megaton warhead. The book proceeds through the accident, and the aftermath. In between, it recounts the development of nuclear weapons the formation of the SIOP (nuclear war plan), political considerations, bluffs, boasts, and battles between engineers and the military over nuclear weapons safety and deployment. Many close calls are discussed.... Many chillingly close calls and facts previously not known to the public... Nuclear weapons lost, nuclear weapons found, nuclear weapons broken, burned, folded, spindled and mutilated....

I found this book so fascinating that I googled the story further, and found it is being adapted to a movie. I will definitely see that too. My one criticism, is that it could use some illustrations. At least in the Kindle edition, the ONLY illustration is a diagram of a Titan II silo. I happen to be familiar with what the weapons look like, how they work, how they are designed, and so forth. So when they are talking about "the spark plug" or "the explosive lenses" or "the secondary" I know what they are referring to. Some basic illustrations would have went far for readers with no familiarity with these things. Ditto for "The RFHCO's" lay readers may picture "normal hazmat suits" rather than the "bubble helmet space suits". This becomes relevant to the story. You may want to use google image to google some things to improve clarity. Subsequent editions should probably use some illustrations or stock photos - esp since these would be "public domain" govt archive images.

This book was great, and it offered a rare glimpse - into the sky, beneath the waves, and under the prairie, into the secret lives of young men who kept us safe while trying not to kill us all. The system didnt make it easy for them, butt he did a phenomenal job.
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Michael J
5.0 out of 5 stars A gripping, compelling, and fascinating narrative of US nuclear weapons technology and policy
Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2015
Verified Purchase
On the 18th of September, 1980, at around 6:30 pm, a USAF Senior Airman conducting routine maintenance on a Titan II liquid-fueled ICBM near Damascus, Arkansas, dropped a wrench socket down the silo of the missile he was working on. This in and of itself was not an unusual occurrence; tools and other material were often dropped in the silo, usually resulting in nothing more serious than a trip to the bottom to retrieve the item. This time, though, the socket bounced at struck the thin skin of the missile, puncturing a hole in the fuel tank. Fuel began to pour out. What followed was almost a textbook example of how complex systems and a complicated bureaucracy can take a serious, but controllable, situation and allow it to spiral out of hand into a disaster.

The events that took place that day, and the following day, serve as the backdrop for Eric Schlosser's detailed history of the technology and the policies that evolved to control the US Military's nuclear arsenal in the post-WWII period. The first bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were very much cobbled together by scientists, engineers, and machinists in the heat of war. There was a tremendous pressure to deliver a weapon to the Pacific theater to forestall the need for an invasion of Japan, and that meant that there was only one major consideration- that the bombs work. Considerations like safety, security, and the ability to stockpile weapons would have to come later.

With the end of the war came a new enemy- the USSR- and new demands and new questions. Who should be responsible for controlling the weapons- the AEC, or the military? How should they be stored? Was there a way to make them fail-safe, that is, to insure that accidents and malfunctions wouldn't result in an unintended nuclear detonation? And what was the proper balance between having a nuclear weapon that was secure from theft, misuse, and rogue commanders, and making sure that the weapons could be delivered in response to a Soviet attack? For some time the US nuclear arsenal included a great many weapons that were deployed in overseas bases and which contained the real safeguards other than an armed Airman or an AEC official a clipboard. There was the Davy Crocket, a jeep-mounted recipes rifle that could throw a variable-yield nuke about a mile and a half, and the nuclear demolition devices- mines that were to be armed and set in the path of an oncoming Soviet armored invasion.

Schlosser delves deep into the history of the weapons, the people involved, the policies, and the politics. I was particularly impressed with some of the little known facts he uncovered, like that noted philosopher, pacifist, and anti-nuclear activist Bertrand Russell had actually called for a first strike against the the USSR after they'd managed to explode a nuclear weapon. Russell acknowledged that yes, thousands or millions would die, but it was a better alternative than leaving allowing the Soviets to assemble a large nuclear arsenal that they could threaten the world with. General Curtis LeMay, often portrayed as a bloodthirsty buffoon in the press and in some histories, comes across as a very thoughtful and intelligent leader in Schlosser's narrative, a man who was one of the first to consider the issues of safety and security, and who shaped SAC into a modern, reliable, and efficient force. There's also Thomas Schelling, who, inspired by a novel, proposed the US-USSR Hot Line; Fred Ikle, who is considered to be the father of the PALs or Permissive Action Links that secure every US nuclear weapon, and several other, lesser known figures who helped shape US nuclear weapons policies and protocols.

Schossler also does a good job of explaining the physics and the technology of nuclear weapons as it applies to safety- the problems of designing a warhead that won't explode if his by a bullet, dropped on the runway, or jettisoned into the ocean (water slows neutrons, and can make a certain unarmed nuclear cores go critical.) The reader learns the difference between symmetrical implosion and linear implosion devices, and the problems in making both designs fail-safe. There's a history of the aforementioned PAL codes and devices, and the technologies to used to insure that a hollow plutonium core or "pit" cannot go critical, like filling it with a neutron-absorbing cadmium chain that can be quickly withdrawn to arm it.

This is both a tremendously informative, and at times gripping, narrative that should be read by anyone concerned with the safety of nuclear weapons, or with US nuclear deterrence policy.
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Carlos Alberto Ferreira
5.0 out of 5 stars Revealing!
Reviewed in Brazil on June 10, 2023
Verified Purchase
The book provides a frightening glimpse of how close to the abyss we all have got during the Cold War.
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AMOD DEO
5.0 out of 5 stars A must read.
Reviewed in India on January 13, 2019
Verified Purchase
Lovely book with great research by the author and every character and story has come out totally credible. Makes you shudder on what treacherous and slippery ground we all walk.
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Stephen Ross
5.0 out of 5 stars 5 Stars is not enough!
Reviewed in Canada on December 4, 2016
Verified Purchase
This is a masterful exposition of the history of the development of the US nuclear weapons program - particularly concerned with safety (or, more to the point, the lack thereof). It is an amazingly captivating read, interleaving the story of a particular accident with the history of the entire program. I could not help but share what I was learning with colleagues - at least one of whom has started reading the book as well. Reading the book it feels like a miracle that we are still actually here - there were so many close calls where chance alone was between us and disaster.

After reading the book I started reading the notes: There is another entire book hidden in just reading the notes! These also ended up sending me back to re-read parts of the book.

After finishing this book I read 15 Minutes. These two books make a very interesting pair, covering similar territory but with completely different styles and depth. I am very happy to have read both but Command and Control is a masterpiece of careful research, well documented, and absolutely captivating.
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Stefano F.
5.0 out of 5 stars Un resoconto dettagliato ed avvincente sullo sviluppo degli armamenti nucleari statunitensi
Reviewed in Italy on February 7, 2016
Verified Purchase
Inizio con alcune note "di servizio" per un lettore italiano: il libro è scritto in un inglese semplice e scorrevole e si legge facilmente; l'unica difficoltà è tenere a mente i nomi di tutte le persone citate, ma per questo viene in aiuto lo specchietto riassuntivo all'inizio nelle pagine iniziali.
Questo libro, usando come filo conduttore ed esempio principale un incidente avvenuto con un missile Titan II (che per poco non ha fatto detonare una testata termonucleare in mezzo agli Stati Uniti), descrive la storia dello sviluppo delle armi nucleari statunitensi, dai primi test fino agli ultimi trattati di riduzione degli armamenti; particolare attenzione viene rivolta ad alcuni significativi incidenti occorsi e alle resistenze dei militari alle misure di prevenzione di tali episodi. Il tutto è narrato come se si trattasse di un racconto, quasi un thriller. Il calce al testo è presente anche una ricca bibliografia suddivisa per tematiche per chi volesse approfondire ulteriormente alcuni aspetti delle vicende narrate.
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Marius Goppelt
5.0 out of 5 stars Der Stoff aus dem Alpträume sind
Reviewed in Germany on January 4, 2015
Verified Purchase
Dies ist ein erschreckendes Buch. Der prosaische Stil hilft dabei, ein bisschen Distanz zum Inhalt zu schaffen. Es geht dabei vorwiegend nicht um den nuklearen Krieg, sondern vor allem um den Umgang mit Nuklearwaffen in Friedenszeiten. Runter vom politischen Klima bis hin zu den Personen die direkt damit umgehen, wird aufgeschlüsselt welche Risikofaktoren es bei Nuklearwaffen gibt, welche Sicherheitsmaßnahmen greifen und welche nicht. Dies wird größtenteils nüchtern und sachlich vorgelegt, und mit unzähligen Quellen belegt.
Der Autor schwingt dabei nicht mit dem moralischen Zeigefinger, er verurteilt niemanden, und geringschätzt auch nicht die Arbeit des Militärs. Wenn er über Fehler redet, dann mit dem größtmöglichen Respekt.

Unter der Oberfläche befindet sich aber mehr als nur ein Appell gegen den Bau von Atomwaffen.
Dies ist auch ein Buch über Unfälle, über die Grenzen des menschlich machbaren, was an der Grenze der menschlichen Wahrnehmung passiert, die Kosten und Limitierungen von Sicherheit, und wie man mit schwer beherrschbaren Situationen umgeht. Die Nuklearwaffe dient da nur als Extrembeispiel, für einen Unfall der schlicht nicht passieren darf.

Ich habe das Buch verschlungen. Die Rahmengeschichte liest sich wie ein Thriller. Man braucht kein Fachwissen um dem Inhalt zu folgen, aber die Informationsdichte ist mitunter gewaltig. Und es ist ein Stück weit Zeitgeschichte, über eine Epoche die heute fremd und unwirklich scheint.
Ich habe auch beruflich daraus ein bisschen mitgenommen, denn hier und da finden sich so einige Tipps wie man Sicherheit und Robustheit verbessern kann - oder was eben nur scheinbar Sicherheit erzeugt.

Kurzum: tolles Buch!
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