On Thermonuclear War. 2nd Edition

by Herman Kahn (Author)

15 customer reviews

ISBN-13: 978-0313200601

ISBN-10: 0313200602

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This book examines the military side of what may be the major problem that faces civilization, comparing some of the alternatives that seem available and some of the implications of these choices.

On Thermonuclear War.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"On Thermonuclear War was controversial when it was first published-and still is, today. No light reading, at well over 600 pages it packs in details from across disciplines and was widely read on both sides of the Iron Curtain: today its many insights on military strategies, issues, and the logic of amassing thermonuclear armaments still apply. It was the first book to examine the underlying logic of making and keeping nuclear weapons, originally created from a series of lectures, and provides both military and college-level collections with strong insights on military might and strategy." —The Midwest Book Review

"Kahn's classic On Thermonuclear War had been reissued by Transaction Publishing ... This could not come at a better time. Human nature has not made much moral progress since the end of the Third Reich but its very worst instinct for total destruction has, so far, been held at bay by the certainty of self-destruction. We need someone to remind us again of how to think about the unthinkable." —Mark Safranski, zenpundit.com

"New thoughts, particularly those which contradict current assumptions, are always painful for the human mind to contemplate. On Thermonuclear War is filled with such thoughts."

—Hubert H. Humphrey

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Herman Kahn (1922-1983) was a renowned political scientist, economist, historian geo-strategist, and considered by many to be the founder of futurology as a serious field of study. Associated for many years with the RAND Corporation, he was the founding director of the first independent “think tank,” the Hudson Institute. Among his many books are Thinking About the Unthinkable, The Year 2000, The Next 200 Years, The Coming Boom, The Resourceful Earth, and On Thermonuclear War.

Evan Jones is Herman Kahn's nephew. He is an historical analyst and game designer specializing in strategic simulations. He worked at the Hudson Institute in the mid-70s, primarily doing research used in The Next 200 Years.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Hardcover: 668 pages
Publisher: Praeger; 2 edition (March 9, 1978)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0313200602
ISBN-13: 978-0313200601
Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 2.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
Average Customer Review: 15 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,149,784 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1551 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Politics & Government > International & World Politics > Arms Control
- #2044 in Books > History > Military > Weapons & Warfare > Nuclear
- #5967 in Books > History > Military > Weapons & Warfare > Conventional

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Anything by Herman Kahn is excellent. His economic forecasts which were written over thirty ...

ByTony Meyeron December 15, 2015

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Anything by Herman Kahn is excellent. His economic forecasts which were written over thirty years ago, have all come true. This book is a masterpiece.

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Five Stars

ByWilliam Turmanon June 7, 2016

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Fantastic book! Delivery was on time as expected.

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I read the original version in 1954, was horrifyingly ...

ByMike Boughtonon September 19, 2014

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I read the original version in 1954, was horrifyingly educated by Dr. Kahn's eloquent exposition of what we had enabled, and hoped it was being read by more than the small crowd who were exposed to it. It. was.

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That's One Dense Book

Bypaulon September 27, 2009

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

This is something that should have been written in 200 pages or less by HK. Instead he drones on and on for over 600. A lot of it is just his opinion and I doubt that it could either be proved or disproved by anyone. For that matter I don't think it would even be applicable to any of the situations that this country could face during Cold War. For a much better book on the topic consider "Nuclear Weapons and Foreign Policy" By Henry Kissinger.

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MAKES SOME GOOD POINTS

BySeverin Olsonon April 21, 2017

Format: Paperback

This is several hundred pages too long, and a drag at times, but it does make some good points. Perhaps the most important one concerns how we think about nuclear conflict. Too many see it as unthinkable and so refuse to contemplate the details of life after a war. All would be lost they say. Kahn will have none of this. There could be many outcomes, he says. Some could involve a quick recovery. We must accept the possibility of this happening. Very few have dared take such an approach.

In addition to its excessive length, this is a bit technical for most readers, myself included. It's a lot to slog through. It should also be noted that a book on nuclear war written before the Cuban Missile Crisis is well, way out of date.

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Someone Had to do It

ByStephen M. Gorinon October 25, 2010

Format: Paperback

Herman Kahn's "On Thermonuclear War" may be appreciated on many levels. Firstly since his ideas were apparently too "real" for the RAND Institute, he went off and founded his own think-tank, The Hudson Institute.

Secondly, in many ways "On Thermo...." represents the first truly modern approach to the discipline known as Systems Analysis.

And finally Kahn had the courage to realize that all previous \scenarios involving thermonuclear war truly were lightweight and an honest assessment was necessary. He delivered. In spades. Hence chapter titles such as "Will the Living Envy the Dead?". He approached this without irony, with a rock-solid grasp of the facts and possibilities and developed his scenarios on existing knowledge of thermonuclear war and its effects and definite real grounding in prevailing defense policy.

Chilling? To be sure. And even in the years since its publication it has not lost an iota of possibility regarding the consequences of such insane acts as he describes. His analysis makes John Schlesinger's "Mutual Assured Destruction" (MAD) seem like child's play. In Kahn's time and world the generals were clearly out not win, not deter.

Roughly thirty or so years ago, Atlantic Monthly ran an article that evaluated nuclear war scenarios (fiction and realistic) as pornography, lacking any other analogue. An excellent article that may be tracked down via Atlantic's site. In it most fiction such a "Level 7", Red Alert" (basis for Dr. Strangelove) and "On The Beach" were treated as softcore nuclear porno.

In contrast "Fail Safe" and "On Thermonuclear War" reigned as truce hardcore examples of the genre.

In all, Kahn's book is excellent and timely, the Atlantic article is worth tracking down. And Peter Watkins's film, "War Game" is also worth serious viewing as well as receiving a hardcore rating by the author of the Atlantic article.

Chilling and yet compelling and above-all necessary to remind us of the continuance of our on-going death fetish and folly.

By the way, Kahn is scrupulously neutral. Simply the honest facts regarding where our policies could lead.

Groundbreaking and necessary now as well as then.

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Unfortunately someone has to think of these things

ByHallstatt Princeon June 6, 2005

Format: Hardcover

Herman Kahn has had many epithets hurled at him in his day. It is even rumored that Stanley Kubrick based his Dr. Strangelove character after him.

But the truth is he does a job someone has to do when countries possess nuclear weapons.

In this book Kahn discusses the unthinkable: how would a nuclear war be fought and what would be the consequences. He does this in the only way it can be done-in a dispassionate way. He asks such questions as to whether civilization can survive a nuclear war and if so how long it would take for it to recover.

His conclusion based on the facts and technology of the time he wrote the book (1962) was that nuclear war was winnable. Detractors of the book saw it as advocating nuclear war which is far from the truth. How easy it is to shoot the messenger.

From many accounts of Kahn the man he was far from bloodless and he was in fact optimistic about the future.

As one reads this book one enters into the mind of a great thinker. He was a highly logical man who dared to take on a problem others saw as taboo. Some may not like the way he deals with the subject but as long as we possess nuclear weapons the problems and all of their ramifications must be considered.

A frightening yet interesting read.

Jim Connell "Hallstatt Prince"

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A captivating look at nuclear strategies

ByWHCon December 25, 2008

Format: Paperback

It's good to see this book back in print, even though nearly 50 years have passed since it was written, because it analyzes a topic of vital importance to national security. Author Herman Kahn is the man (and his book) who was the genesis for Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece, "Dr. Strangelove." The book gives the reader a chilling look at strategies in which to wage *and* win a nuclear war. It is definitely an iconoclastic work for the factual and dispassionate manner in which mass casualties and future birth defects are discussed and quantified --- with graphical information plotted logarithmically by order of magnitude. In retrospect the work is quite outdated, but the discussions of nuclear-powered aircraft and available mine-shaft space are amusing. Nevertheless, it is a captivating look at civilian and military planning to survive and rebound from the unthinkable.