Armageddon and Paranoia
The Nuclear Confrontation
Published on 21. September 2017
Book
Hardback
512 pages
978-1-78125-719-7 (ISBN)
Description
A gripping account of the intense rivalry between Russia and the West, from bestselling author and former diplomat Rodric Braithwaite
In 1945, the atom bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Warfare was never the same again. Armageddon and Paranoia relates how the power of the atom was harnessed to produce weapons capable of destroying human civilisation, and what this has done to the world.
There are few villains in this story: on both sides of the Iron Curtain, dedicated scientists cracked the secrets of nature while dutiful military men planned out possible manoeuvres and politicians wrestled with intolerable decisions. Patriotic citizens acquiesced to the idea that their country needed the ultimate means of defence. Some protested, citing the unanswerable question: what end could possibly be served by such fearsome means? None wanted to start a nuclear war, but all were paranoid about what the other side might do.
The danger of annihilation - by accident or design - has never quite left the world. As fears about who controls the nuclear codes continue to make headlines, Rodric Braithwaite (author of bestsellers Moscow 1941 and Afgantsy) has painted a vivid and detailed portrait of this intense period in history - and its terrifying implications today.
In 1945, the atom bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Warfare was never the same again. Armageddon and Paranoia relates how the power of the atom was harnessed to produce weapons capable of destroying human civilisation, and what this has done to the world.
There are few villains in this story: on both sides of the Iron Curtain, dedicated scientists cracked the secrets of nature while dutiful military men planned out possible manoeuvres and politicians wrestled with intolerable decisions. Patriotic citizens acquiesced to the idea that their country needed the ultimate means of defence. Some protested, citing the unanswerable question: what end could possibly be served by such fearsome means? None wanted to start a nuclear war, but all were paranoid about what the other side might do.
The danger of annihilation - by accident or design - has never quite left the world. As fears about who controls the nuclear codes continue to make headlines, Rodric Braithwaite (author of bestsellers Moscow 1941 and Afgantsy) has painted a vivid and detailed portrait of this intense period in history - and its terrifying implications today.
Reviews / Votes
A timely and sober book ... a trenchant and stimulating analysis of nuclear deterrence * Observer * A wise observer of how close we came to Armageddon * Prospect * Braithwaite ... is on top form. * Financial Times * [A] fresh and invigorating take on the Cold War. * History Today * Personal experience plus careful study have given him a remarkable platform from which he brilliantly dissects the ethical dilemmas. -- Jonathan Steele * Guardian * Scintillating. * The Times * Rodric Braithwaite has produced a masterly history of the nuclear age just in time since its dangers are back with a vengeance. Our leaders must take the lessons in this meticulous and revelatory narrative. * Strobe Talbott, Brookings Institution * An even handed, nuanced and even chilling account of the nuclear confrontation between the USA and the USSR. -- Margot Light * Literary Review * Praise for Afgantsy:'Outstanding * THES * This is the book every politician, every general, every diplomat contemplating getting into, or out of, Afghanistan should be made to read. [...] It is a minor masterpiece. * Guardian * [Braithwaite] is one of the most vivid emotionally engaged diplomats to have turned to the pen. * Financial Times * Praise for Moscow 1941:
'A masterful account * Times * a remarkable epic, vividly portrayed * Sunday Telegraph *
More details
Edition
Main
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Product notice
Trade binding
Illustrations
16 page plate section
Dimensions
Height: 245 mm
Width: 155 mm
Thickness: 45 mm
Weight
929 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-78125-719-7 (9781781257197)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
09/2017
Profile Books Ltd
€16.49
Available for download
Person
Sir Rodric Braithwaite is a former British diplomat and author whose long Foreign Office career took him to Indonesia, Poland, Italy, America and Russia. He was British Ambassador in Moscow during the fall of the Soviet Union, which he described in Across the Moscow River (2002, Yale). Rodric Braithwaite was subsequently foreign policy adviser to the Prime Minister, John Major, and Chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee. He is author of Afgantsy: The Russians in Afghanistan (Profile Books), and Moscow 1941 (Profile Books), a bestseller translated into nineteen languages.