
Fallout
Conspiracy, Cover-Up, and the Deceitful Case for the Atom Bomb
Peter Watson(Author)
PublicAffairs (Publisher)
Published on 18. September 2018
Book
Hardback
448 pages
978-1-61039-961-6 (ISBN)
Description
"The justification for the atomic bomb was simple: it would defeat Hitler and end the Second World War faster, saving lives. The reality was different. [This book] dismantles the conventional story of why the atom bomb was built. Peter Watson has found new documents showing that long before the Allied bomb was operational, it was clear that Germany had no atomic weapons of its own and was not likely to. The British knew this, but didn't share their knowledge with the Americans, who in turn deceived the British about the extent to which the Soviets had penetrated their plans to build and deploy the bomb. The dark secret was that the bomb was dropped not to decisively end the war in the Pacific but to warn off Stalin's Russia, still in principle a military ally of the US and Britain. It did not bring a hot war to an abrupt end; instead it set up the terms for a Cold one to begin. Moreover, none of the scientists recruited to build the bomb had any idea that the purpose of the bomb had been secretly changed and that Russian deterrence was its new objective. Fallout vividly reveals the story of the unnecessary building of the atomic bomb, the most destructive weapon in the world, and the long-term consequences that are still playing out to this day."--Dust jacket.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
Illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 236 mm
Width: 155 mm
Thickness: 43 mm
Weight
680 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-61039-961-6 (9781610399616)
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
09/2018
PublicAffairs
€12.99
Available for download
Person
Peter Watson is a journalist, television presenter and historian of intellectual movements. He has written for the Observer, the Daily Telegraph, the Times, the Sunday Times, the New York Times, and the Spectator. His books include The Modern Mind; Ideas: A History from Fire to Freud; and The German Genius; The Age of Atheists; and Convergence -- and he has been published in twenty-six countries.