Nuclear War: A Scenario
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- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2024-01-26 12:22:09
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Annie Jacobsen
- ISBN：B0CF6K1NZ9
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
Reviews
Chris
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As someone who loves a process document， I was immediately smitten with Annie Jacobsen’s Nuclear Warfare from its cold， step-by-step detailing of what begins to unfold across the US government when North Korea launches an ICBM at us。Even the frequent use and defining of acronyms （which， who uses acronyms more than the US military？） it felt like what I’ve done for the past 5 years， if my job entailed documenting Nuclear Armageddon。Because， in this scenario， it is Armageddon， minus Bruce Willis sa As someone who loves a process document， I was immediately smitten with Annie Jacobsen’s Nuclear Warfare from its cold， step-by-step detailing of what begins to unfold across the US government when North Korea launches an ICBM at us。Even the frequent use and defining of acronyms （which， who uses acronyms more than the US military？） it felt like what I’ve done for the past 5 years， if my job entailed documenting Nuclear Armageddon。Because， in this scenario， it is Armageddon， minus Bruce Willis sacrificing himself for the benefit of Liv Tyler and…mankind。This is a disaster movie more along the lines of Deep Impact， or recently Don’t Look Up。 Our heroes—and us—likely aren’t making it out of this one alive。While I never need to hear the phrase “Handmaidens of the Apocalypse” again， or the descriptor “carbonized，” I appreciate what Jacobsen is trying to do here: scare some sense into people by painting the reality of what US military process is in Nuclear War—and how instability of foreign leadership could literally end civilization in less than two hours。 The key takeaway， which I won’t spoil: there are like 3 countries that’ll probably come out of it all largely unscathed。 And now I’m researching citizenship requirements for each of these。 I’ll also never judge a prepper again。Short chapters that made it easy to blast through， with a disaster-movie feel that had me wide-eyed and wanting popcorn， I’d recommend this to folks who want to know the realities of our current nuclear situation and what could happen if Mutually-Assured Destruction （MAD） no longer holds。 If you find yourself frequently awake at 3am with worst-case scenario anxiety， do not read this。 Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for the advanced copy！ Read with: 📱 ebookRecommended to fans of:-disaster movies-military process -military technology -nuclear disarmament 。。。more
Dan
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My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Penguin Group Dutton for an advance copy of this book on how the world will probably end， the speed in which it will happen， the inevitably of events cascading， and the knowledge that everyone involved in this knows this that nuclear war can not end well。 And yet。 Over the years I have read a lot of books that disturbed me， made me put them down and go for a walk。 And as a person who has read a lot of history books I am used to smart people doing stu My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Penguin Group Dutton for an advance copy of this book on how the world will probably end， the speed in which it will happen， the inevitably of events cascading， and the knowledge that everyone involved in this knows this that nuclear war can not end well。 And yet。 Over the years I have read a lot of books that disturbed me， made me put them down and go for a walk。 And as a person who has read a lot of history books I am used to smart people doing stupid things， knowing they are doing stupid things， and yet continue to do stupid things。 Out of loyalty， out of orders， out of inevitably， the reasons vary。 This book is The Perfect Storm of extinction。 There are lines in here， not the megatons， not the death， the asphyxiation of innocent humans， but the ideas that made sense to men， men who should have known better， that makes one want to toss one's hands up and give up on humanity。 The trillions and of trillions of dollars wasted in a weapons race that with the grace of God we will never use。 I mentioned men making these decisions。 I think only Annie Jacobsen could have written this book Nuclear War: A Scenario。 A writer of military books， and military science， Jacobsen draws on declassified reports interviews， old articles and a narrative and writing skill to show how crazy the world has been since that July day in Alamogordo in 1945。The book begins with a possible launch of a nuclear missile from North Korea。 I say possible because even with all the trillions spent on tracking missiles， there is a lot of possibility in mistakes。 Jacobsen mentions this mistakes in asides throughout the book， from the Moon being thought of as a launch， to a NORAD computer saying there was a groups of Russian missiles in flight。 Both of these were wrong。 As the possible missile launch is detected， the vast American military activates， from Alaska， to Colorado， to Washington DC， where the missile might be going。 A few minutes later， there is a submarine launch of a missile， aimed at a nuclear reactor in California， that will hit well before the ballistic missile hits Washington。 This will cause even more destruction with fallout spreading from the reactor's core and cooling rods， something that is illegal according to the rules of war。 But in war there really aren't rules。 Jacobsen describes everything， American retribution， real world politics， the President being the only one with the launch codes。 The fact that plans are made to keep government safe， while millions die。 And what happens next。A book that really should open people's eyes。 And remind us to vote。 Trillions of dollars spent on missiles， defense systems that even when tests are rigged to make them pass， fail。 The idea of EMP bombs， just being ignored。 Whenever one wonders why Americans can't have nice things， well there are plenty of examples in here to show on why。 I like the fact that there is no real reason why this war starts。 It shows the insanity of deterrence。 One day a leader could be facing jail time and says why not just blow everything up。 Jacobsen is not only a very good technical writer， able to explain things in ways that people can understand， Jacobsen has a good narrative sense。 One of the most powerful， maddening books I have read in a long time。 One that took me a few days to read， as I needed to put it down。 I have read all of Annie Jacobsen's books， this is easily the best and most important。 。。。more
John
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I read this in one sobering sitting。 Brief chapters， first giving background， precede the heart of the beast。 They're each timed to 24 minutes。 Narrating in accessible， if now and then cliched or overwrought （the latter's understandable given the horrific， almost indescribable events）， prose， this straightforward account tracks one North Korean missile as it enters American airspace， is judged by visual confirmation as a threat， and how feeble prove anti-missile attempts to halt the Korean traje I read this in one sobering sitting。 Brief chapters， first giving background， precede the heart of the beast。 They're each timed to 24 minutes。 Narrating in accessible， if now and then cliched or overwrought （the latter's understandable given the horrific， almost indescribable events）， prose， this straightforward account tracks one North Korean missile as it enters American airspace， is judged by visual confirmation as a threat， and how feeble prove anti-missile attempts to halt the Korean trajectory。 Jacobsen relays the horrible facts of how a direct hit on the Pentagon would obliterate a wide swath around the capital city。 And then， the second weapon destroys the Californian nuclear power station at Diablo Canyon， igniting a massive area as it spreads radiation。 What follows， without giving away the resulting worst-case scenarios， shows the impotence of a Commander-in-Chief and the confusion after the chain of succession to the President complicates any counterattack。 For only the Chief Executive can order retaliation， within a small window of time。 And as dramatized here， it's probable that the fraught， irreconcilable decision would fall into the military's domain， given how little U。S。 presidents know about the football suitcase with the vengeful launch codes。 The author provides in-depth endnotes within her documentation， and she draws from both anonymous insiders and veteran strategists to support her broad research。 Her investigation demonstrates how today's 'firepower' contains exponentially far more lethal destructive power than the comparatively puny bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki。 These unfortunately smart devices contain both astonishing expertise lavished on this deadly invention， and disheartening proof of how many trillions of our dollars perpetuate mutual annihilation as not an apocalyptic screened entertainment （after finishing this volume， one may hesitate whenever linking those phrases to mass extinction）， but a grimly rational， spirit-crushing set of calculations， chemicals， and conflagration。 Statisticians have labored over eighty years to tally fatal totals。One area left barely explored: what's the fate， short and long-term， for the significant part of the world which may dodge the assault？ While the author refers to this in a few sentences， the vexed question of whether or not all we call civilization would weather the hideous storms remains occluded。 Nevertheless， this investigation and extrapolation of the effects caused by the deployment of these murderous armory will likely sear their nightmarish depictions upon the memory of those willing to confront the folly of endgames， and the incomprehensible aftermath engineered by some of the world's smartest scientists， manufactured by armies of defense workers， and guarded around what may be indeed a Doomsday clock。 Jacobson's brave testimony of the clear and present danger will wake her audience up to our fate， worse than instant death。 。。。more
Emily King
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Thanks to NetGalley and Random house UK for this eARC。Gonna start by saying I've never understood the concept of nuclear deterrence by the worlds "superpowers"。 I mean if you're never going to use them， why even have them。Anyways。 This book terrified me and gave me nightmares and OMG everyone should read it so you can understand how INSANE it is that countries have nuclear weapons。 Superbly researched & well written。 Thanks to NetGalley and Random house UK for this eARC。Gonna start by saying I've never understood the concept of nuclear deterrence by the worlds "superpowers"。 I mean if you're never going to use them， why even have them。Anyways。 This book terrified me and gave me nightmares and OMG everyone should read it so you can understand how INSANE it is that countries have nuclear weapons。 Superbly researched & well written。 。。。more
Rhuaraidh
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Very well written and very well researched。 And scary as anything， as this could happen whilst I'm typing， let alone tomorrow。 Only yesterday， N Korea launched a long range solid fuel ICBM which landed off Japan， then the USA （who surround that area and China， for some reason） and S Korea agreed to carry out nuclear wargaming in 2024。 So the book describes an imminent threat， that hopefully will never happen。The purpose of the book？ I guess to explain the horrors of a nuclear war and how it migh Very well written and very well researched。 And scary as anything， as this could happen whilst I'm typing， let alone tomorrow。 Only yesterday， N Korea launched a long range solid fuel ICBM which landed off Japan， then the USA （who surround that area and China， for some reason） and S Korea agreed to carry out nuclear wargaming in 2024。 So the book describes an imminent threat， that hopefully will never happen。The purpose of the book？ I guess to explain the horrors of a nuclear war and how it might lead to us all being annihilated in an hour or so， But there-in lies my unease， as it's very US focused， assumes the Pentagon is the No 1 target， then strolls on to describe the impact in the US， with the rest of us a sidebar。Would a rogue state really be stupid enough to choose the USA as target No 1， or would it choose a soft mainland Europe， or a smaller nuclear power like the UK or France。 In current geopolitics， could Israel deploy tactical nuclear weapons at Iran to get rid if Hamas & Hezbollah？ India & Pakistan are always at each other， both nuclear powers。So I'd like to have seen the book written from a different perspective。 A more likely first strike。 By all means， include the USA in terms of what they'd do as a reaction without provoking Russia， or indeed their equivalent superpower， China。Extremely well researched， don't mind repeating that。 If it was a scientific paper， it could not have more references。 。。。more
Ann Margolis
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“NUCLEAR WAR” by Annie JacobsenThank you NetGallery， Penguin Random House LLC Publishers and author Annie Jacobsen for allowing me to read this book。 Annie Jacobsen has written the most definitive and up-to-date scenario of an actual nuclear attack upon The United States。 Moment to moment details of each action and reaction features the testimonies of top experts and a description of each individual government and military group response in-place。 This is “The Doomsday Account” never before offe “NUCLEAR WAR” by Annie JacobsenThank you NetGallery， Penguin Random House LLC Publishers and author Annie Jacobsen for allowing me to read this book。 Annie Jacobsen has written the most definitive and up-to-date scenario of an actual nuclear attack upon The United States。 Moment to moment details of each action and reaction features the testimonies of top experts and a description of each individual government and military group response in-place。 This is “The Doomsday Account” never before offered to the public。 The speed at which events transpire and how every responsible party， including The President， Joint Chiefs of Staff， Silo crews， nuclear-armed submarines， Air Force and specific forces programmed to respond react according to established programmed procedures。 Immediate emergency contact between American and Russian leaders and the fact that，once set in motion， the impending end of civilization becomes reality。 This is a spine-chilling tour-de-force that I could not stop reading。 。。。more
Stuart Faulkner
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Absolutely bloody terrifying！
Anne Fox
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I was surprised by how interested I was in this book。 All the information is -apparently- freely available so no telling secrets to the enemy （ whoever that might be）。 I liked the structure of the book， it follows a timeline of events and the response to those events。 I would recommend this as a set book in education involving politics， ethics， democracy， history and science。 The human race has the capability to wipe itself out - who should be watching those in power？ The information is thoughtf I was surprised by how interested I was in this book。 All the information is -apparently- freely available so no telling secrets to the enemy （ whoever that might be）。 I liked the structure of the book， it follows a timeline of events and the response to those events。 I would recommend this as a set book in education involving politics， ethics， democracy， history and science。 The human race has the capability to wipe itself out - who should be watching those in power？ The information is thoughtfully put together。 There are explanations and footnotes aplenty。 The last 25% of the book is given over to research credits and further reading。 It is sobering to think how close we came to annihilation in the ‘60s。 Maybe if more people knew what the outcome is likely to be， we would pay more attention to those who do have the power to push the red button。 Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for a prepublication ebook in return for an honest review 。。。more
Jacob Aron
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An extraordinary and deeply researched book， laying out minute-by-minute what would happen during a nuclear war。 The entire conflict lasts only an hour。 Everyone involved is， essentially， insane。 There is no other conclusion to draw about nuclear war。 If I were to nitpick， at times it can feel repetitive， but really that's a stylistic choice to hammer the point home。 Compelling and awful in equal measure， I couldn't stop reading， couldn't look away。 Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC。 An extraordinary and deeply researched book， laying out minute-by-minute what would happen during a nuclear war。 The entire conflict lasts only an hour。 Everyone involved is， essentially， insane。 There is no other conclusion to draw about nuclear war。 If I were to nitpick， at times it can feel repetitive， but really that's a stylistic choice to hammer the point home。 Compelling and awful in equal measure， I couldn't stop reading， couldn't look away。 Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC。 。。。more
William Harris
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I recently had the opportunity， graciously granted to me by Penguin Books/Dutton， to examine an ARC of an upcoming title by Annie Jacobsen called "Nuclear War: A Scenario。" The book was interesting， well-researched， and full of information that most of the general public probably spends a great deal of time avoiding as far as possible。 Obviously， it is not written for the few of us who have gone out of our way to gain some understanding of the implications of nuclear weapons， but that said， ther I recently had the opportunity， graciously granted to me by Penguin Books/Dutton， to examine an ARC of an upcoming title by Annie Jacobsen called "Nuclear War: A Scenario。" The book was interesting， well-researched， and full of information that most of the general public probably spends a great deal of time avoiding as far as possible。 Obviously， it is not written for the few of us who have gone out of our way to gain some understanding of the implications of nuclear weapons， but that said， there is an audience for this book， and it deserves to be promoted aggressively。 The "scenario" referred to in the title has to do with that perennial bad actor， North Korea and its decision to launch an attack on the United States。 The "scenario" is principally a tool to illustrate the very short time lines for decision making in the event of a nuclear launch， and it is extremely effective in laying out just how unprepared even our leaders （or， perhaps especially our leaders） are to deal with this kind of a confrontation and to follow the chain of consequences which rapidly expand from even the launch of a single missile， let alone more。 Much of the book， of necessity， is very unpalatable， but that doesn't obviate its objective。 We all need to look very closely into this topic if we are going to offer even the pretense of understanding of much of our world's international relations。 In short it is a quick read that will stay with you for a very long time。 It has a place in every library and should find its way into ;many classrooms （I hope）。 。。。more
Shari Burke
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Nuclear war is an insane concept。 Nevertheless， here we are in a world brimming with weapons that can destroy life as we know it many， many times over。 In this book， Anne Jacobsen describes what would/could happen in the event of a rogue leader launching a nuclear weapon at the United States。 She bases this on interviews， research， and access to the declassified information that is currently available。 The book is incredibly well-written and reads like a thriller， as she describes， minute-by-min Nuclear war is an insane concept。 Nevertheless， here we are in a world brimming with weapons that can destroy life as we know it many， many times over。 In this book， Anne Jacobsen describes what would/could happen in the event of a rogue leader launching a nuclear weapon at the United States。 She bases this on interviews， research， and access to the declassified information that is currently available。 The book is incredibly well-written and reads like a thriller， as she describes， minute-by-minute， what would happen both with the nuclear warhead in its journey towards the target and with the US government as they react to the fact of an impending nuclear strike。 She talks to people who have been in situations and jobs where they were well-versed in the procedures that would ensue。 She explains what such a strike would do to the target area and the people in it。 She talks about the possibility of a nuclear detonation in space that would immediately stop the US electric grid from functioning。 The people she talks to admit that while the goal of having nuclear arsenals is deterrence， all of the plans and protocols go out the window in the event of an actual launch。The book is subtitled， A Scenario， and it is structured in that way。 The author is telling a story， based on fact as far as is possible。 She lays out a scenario in which a 'mad king'--in this case in North K0rea--launches a nuclear strike against the United States。 How would people in the Us and elsewhere respond？ Would communication between the US and Russia occur and would it help to prevent more catastrophe or would things escalate。 The situation she describes seems all too plausible。 The book is very timely， describing as it does the nuclear arsenals that are precariously sitting all over the globe and in the oceans， while unhinged leaders feel an increasing need to appear powerful。 This is an extremely important book that is also so well-written that it's a page-turner。 Everyone should read it。I thank NetGalley， the publisherm and the author for a digital review copy。 。。。more
Jordan （Jordy’s Book Club）
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