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Nuclear War
- Author
- Annie Jacobsen
- Narrator
- Annie Jacobsen
- Publisher
- Transworld
- Publish Date
- 28 March 2024
- Run Time
- 11 hours 19 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
- Genre
- Nuclear weapons, Military and defence strategy, Geopolitics, Theory of warfare and military science, Arms negotiation and control
- Rating
- 5.0 (2 reviews)
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What to expect
The Sunday Times bestselling edge-of-your-seat exploration of what would happen in the event of nuclear war, perfect for readers of American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer.
Nuclear war begins with a blip on a radar screen.
This is a minute-by-minute account of what comes next.
It has to be read to be believed.
There is only one scenario other than an asteroid strike that could end the world as we know it in a matter of hours: nuclear war.
Until now, no one outside official circles has known exactly what would happen if a rogue state launched a nuclear missile at the Pentagon. Second by second and minute by minute, these are the real-life protocols that choreograph the end of civilization.
Decisions that affect hundreds of millions of lives need to be made within six minutes, based on partial information, in the knowledge that once launched, nothing is capable of halting the destruction.
Based on dozens of new interviews with military and civilian experts who have built the weapons, been privy to the response plans, and taken responsibility for crucial decisions, this is the only account of what a nuclear exchange would look like.
Nuclear War is at once a compulsive non-fiction thriller and a powerful argument that we must rid ourselves of these world-ending weapons for ever.
'A stomach-clenching, multi-perspective, ticking-clock, geopolitical thriller' Forbes
'Dangerously plausible – and it reads like a thriller' Sunday Times
'These are scenes straight out of Dr Strangelove' Telegraph
* A New York Times bestseller (March 2024) and a Sunday Times bestseller (April 2024). Shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction 2024, the UK's premier annual prize for non-fiction books.
©2024 Annie Jacobsen (P)2024 Penguin Audio
Critics Review
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As gripping as any thriller, her book brilliantly portrays the horrific reality of nuclear war.
Guardian
-
A stomach-clenching, multi-perspective, ticking-clock, geopolitical thriller rooted in the seeds of our own destruction, planted nearly 80 years ago at the Trinity test site by the scientists of the Manhattan Project who brazenly dared to rip the building blocks of our universe apart... I couldn’t put the thing down, feverishly turning page after page until I finished it on the plane ride home... Nuclear War: A Scenario should be required reading for everyone alive today.
Forbes
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Books like Annie Jacobsen’s gripping Nuclear War: A Scenario are essential if you want to understand the complex and disturbing details that go into a civilization-destroying decision to drop the Bomb on an enemy.
The New York Times
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Based on hundreds of interviews with many retired security officials and more-or-less declassified information in the public domain, what it captures brilliantly is the emotional chaos into which leaders would be plunged in such a situation.... These are scenes straight out of Dr Strangelove.
Telegraph
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This terrifying book is a must-read for every world leader.
Mother Jones
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Extraordinary... Her book delivers more detail than has been available to the public before... Terrifying.
New Scientist
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Using hard data from top military, government, and scientific sources, and brilliantly weaving in historical facts and technical data, Annie Jacobsen masterfully explains the nuclear issue in riveting story form, turning her readers into experts on the one issue that must concern us all. I guarantee that even the most knowledgeable readers will learn something, if not a lot. Everyone, especially politicians and heads of state, must read this important and very timely book. I cannot recommend it enough.
Carlos Umaña, co-president of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War and Nobel Peace Prize laureate
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Not one to read if you have trouble sleeping.
Financial Times
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At once methodical and vivid. In documenting the minutiae of the apocalypse, the writing is redolent of 'Hiroshima', a seminal article by John Hersey published in the New Yorker in 1946.
The Economist
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In Nuclear War: A Scenario, Annie Jacobsen, gives us a vivid picture of what could happen if our nuclear guardians fail…Terrifying.
Wall Street Journal
User Reviews
Book 5.0
Narration 5.0
-
5.0 5.0
A 2024 update on Dr Strangelove.
A shocking must read. In particular how little disarmament and escalation has happened in the past 35 years. And that the situation is more dangerous now than in the cold war.
Clearly written.hallwiton 2025-02-15 -
5.0 5.0
This book contains the most horrific description of an event I've ever heard. It should be played on a loop to every so called world leader to remind them that their actions if they made a stupid choice, could end this world. Almost everyone would die. Nobody would win. This book is an excellent listen.
Hojohns 2024-06-03
Details
- Author
- Annie Jacobsen
- Narrator
- Annie Jacobsen
- Duration
- 11 hours 19 minutes
- Release Date
- 28 March 2024
- ISBN
- 9781529934052
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Transworld
- Genre
- Nuclear weapons, Military and defence strategy, Geopolitics, Theory of warfare and military science, Arms negotiation and control
- Rating
- 5.0(2 reviews)
- Narration
- 5.0(2 reviews)
Synopsis
The Sunday Times bestselling edge-of-your-seat exploration of what would happen in the event of nuclear war, perfect for readers of American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer.Nuclear war begins with a blip on a radar screen.This is a minute-by-minute account of what comes next.It has to be read to be believed.There is only one scenario other than an asteroid strike that could end the world as we know it in a matter of hours: nuclear war.Until now, no one outside official circles has known exactly what would happen if a rogue state launched a nuclear missile at the Pentagon. Second by second and minute by minute, these are the real-life protocols that choreograph the end of civilization.Decisions that affect hundreds of millions of lives need to be made within six minutes, based on partial information, in the knowledge that once launched, nothing is capable of halting the destruction.Based on dozens of new interviews with military and civilian experts who have built the weapons, been privy to the response plans, and taken responsibility for crucial decisions, this is the only account of what a nuclear exchange would look like.Nuclear War is at once a compulsive non-fiction thriller and a powerful argument that we must rid ourselves of these world-ending weapons for ever.'A stomach-clenching, multi-perspective, ticking-clock, geopolitical thriller' Forbes'Dangerously plausible – and it reads like a thriller' Sunday Times'These are scenes straight out of Dr Strangelove' Telegraph* A New York Times bestseller (March 2024) and a Sunday Times bestseller (April 2024). Shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction 2024, the UK's premier annual prize for non-fiction books.©2024 Annie Jacobsen (P)2024 Penguin Audio
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