War Stars

This cultural history of the superweapon in American society compares the history of American military technology and modern military theory and practice with the image of the nuclear arms race as seen in modern literature and film. The author offers a critical analysis of the historical and imaginative predicament created by these weapons. Franklin argues that neither American weapons nor American culture can be understood in isolation from each other. Continually emerging from the culture, the weapons continually transform the culture, and understanding this process may be a first step in discovering an escape from it.