(Part 2) Best nuclear weapons history books according to redditors
We found 83 Reddit comments discussing the best nuclear weapons history books. We ranked the 45 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the products ranked 21-40. You can also go back to the previous section.
One of my relatives wrote this book, which they later turned into a movie. It goes into some good detail and includes interviews of some of the soldiers that were exposed to radiation.
If the history of The Bomb fascinates any of you, then I cannot recommend highly enough the Pulitzer prize winning The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes. It is not only one of the most researched history books I've come across, but it reads like a work of literature.
Hands down the greatest work of history I've ever read.
I copy and pasted most of this from my old notes, so don't think I'm crazy and wrote nearly 9,000 words just for you! But browse these and you'll have a fairly comprehensive idea about the impact of Nuclear testing in the continental US. I tried to find mostly websites and movies, but there are three books at the end if you're into that sort of thing. This is about 1/4 of the source material I had readily available, so if anything specifically interests you let me know and I can give a few more leads probably or answer any questions!
General history
Fifty Years From Trinity by the Seattle Times Company. This website provides the full text of the 1995 article “Fifty Years From Trinity,” by Bill Dietrich, and interactive presentations of information about atomic bombs. Focuses on the Trinity test site, the Nevada test site, and the plutonium production complex at Hanford Washington. Also has interactive learning tools for teachers and students, including a quiz, supplementary articles and documents.
Movies
The Atomic Café (vimeo link to movie) directed by Rafferty, Kevin / Loader, Jayne / Rafferty, Pierce - This creatively edited film depicts American uncertainty, fear, ignorance, and paranoia in the early Cold War, using the very propaganda that instilled these traits into the American consciousness. It is a montage of U.S. government archival footage and newsreel footage from the forties and fifties. It begins with Col. Paul Tibbets narrating his mission that dropped the atomic bomb over Hiroshima, spliced with the footage of the explosion and ensuing human effects. Tibbets describes being demonized for his role, and states that America is suffering an atomic guilt complex. The clips include footage of U.S. Army training. One shows an officer telling soldiers that radiation is nothing to worry about, and then records the men racing into a still smoldering atomic test area. Other footage reflects the suburban paranoia—families gather in bomb shelters believing themselves safe, while children outside practice “Duck and Cover”. A memorable clip shows an American officer explaining to natives of Bikini Atoll that they must be evacuated for the good of mankind.
Trinity and Beyond: The Atomic Bomb Movie directed by Kuran, Peter - This documentary film depicts the history of the development of nuclear weapons both within and outside of the United States from 1945 to 1963. It contains incredible atomic bomb footage from declassified materials that were painstakingly restored by the film’s production team, an effort which won an Oscar award for Peter Kuran. The film conveys the extent of nuclear testing that took place during that era, and includes footage of tests on the ground, underwater, suspended from balloons, and in the upper atmosphere. The footage is both visually stunning and unsettling. The film also features an interview with Edward Teller who is widely acknowledged as the “father of the hydrogen bomb.” I'm pretty sure it used to be on Netflix.
Dark Circle directed by Beaver, Chris / Irving, Judy / Landy, Ruth - This award-winning film focuses on the victims of nuclear weapons production, testing, and use. It features the stories of workers at the Rocky Flats, Colorado production facility; residents near the facility; United States servicemen participating in nuclear tests; survivors of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki; and activitists who opposed the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant in California. Originally produced in 1982, the film was revised in 1991. It stresses the long term human impact of nuclear weapons.
Websites
http://www.atomictestingmuseum.org/ The National Atomic Testing Museum, Nevada Test Site Historical Foundation. The site features a virtual tour of the museum through photos and video clips. I've been to the actual museum and would definitely recommend it if you're ever in Las Vegas!
http://www.state.nv.us/nucwaste/ State of Nevada: Agency for Nuclear Projects - This is the official website of the Nuclear Waste Project Office of the State of Nevada’s Agency for Nuclear Projects. The website includes links to hundreds of government and other documents, including news clippings, many in PDF format.
http://www.atomicarchive.com/index.shtml Atomic Archive by AJ Software and Multimedia - This website is a comprehensive resource for information on nuclear weapons.The almanac contains information on nuclear facilities, forces, and test sites. The media gallery has photographs, videos, animations, and maps. The store offers items related to nuclear issues such as DVDs, books, and magazines for purchase or subscription. News links and a This Month in Atomic History section are featured on the home page.
http://www.epa.gov/rpdweb00/ “Radiation Protection” United States Environmental Protection Agency - This is the Radiation Protection section of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of the United States website, which informs citizens of the harmful effects of radiation to people and to the environment and details ways to avoid exposure to radiation.
Fallout/Downwind Books
Justice Downwind: America's Atomic Testing Program in the 1950s book by Ball, Howard (less than $10 on Amazon and definitely worth it) - This book was among the first scholarly studies to examine the ways “downwinders” in Utah were affected by fallout from atmospheric atomic tests in Nevada in the 1950s and their early efforts to gain radiation exposure compensation from the U. S. government. Introductory chapters summarize the development of the atomic bomb and the creation of the U. S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), the agency that created and operated the Nevada Test Site. Subsequent chapters describe the downwinder communities in southern Utah, their reactions to the above-ground atomic tests, and the health consequences that began to gain national attention in the late 1970s. The author presents medical research on cancer, especially leukemia, in the test site region, and explores legal action by the downwinders, especially Allen v. United States, to win compensatory damages from the federal government. The author’s study period ends in the mid-1980s, well before the U. S. Congress passed the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to provide money payments to people who suffered cancers linked to the atmospheric tests in Nevada.
Atomic Soldiers: American Victims of Nuclear Experiments book by Howard L Rosenberg. This book describes how the United States military used its own personnel to test the psychological impact of atomic blasts. It also examines the effects of nuclear testing on people who lived close to the Nevada Test Site. In particular, the author, a journalist, uses the story of Russell Jack Dann as an example of what he indicates thousands of United States servicemen endured. He follows the story from the time Dann was recruited to be present at a nuclear blast through his testimony to Congress in 1978 about his experiences. The author sets the context for Dann’s story with background information about the decisions being made at the highest levels of government. The author relies on declassified Pentagon reports and extensive interviews with survivors for his source material, giving the book great authenticity. The majority of the content reflects personal experiences, not scientific information, for which other references should be consulted. (Used on Amazon for <$10.)
The U.S. Atlas of Nuclear Fallout: 1951-1962 Volume I. Total Fallout by Miller, Richard L. This book is a comprehensive study of nuclear fallout in the United States based on published U.S. government documents released in the late 1990s. The fallout from every above-ground test conducted in Nevada is examined in detail, with illustrative maps. The book shows the 80 counties with the highest fallout from each individual test and the fallout for every county in the continental U.S. for each test series. The author also examines the concentrations of different types of radionuclide fallout across the U.S. The book concludes with statistical analyses of the relationships of nuclear fallout, including specific radionuclides, and cancers in the population. Strong relationships were found between fallout distribution and a variety of cancers, particularly female colon cancers and lymphosarcomas. These data were used in research such as the National Cancer Institute's (NCI) study of thyroid cancer. The book is supported by hundreds of pages of maps and tables. This is the abridged general reader edition... look for it at a University library near you, it's way too pricey to own but is a great resource if you're curious about the geographical spread of the fallout.
Edit: clarifying- I wrote all these summaries, they are not just copied and pasted from someone else ;)
The US government has plans to steal Pakistan's nukes if they risk falling into the hands of terrorists.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_Emergency_Support_Team
https://www.amazon.com/Defusing-Armageddon-Inside-Americas-Nuclear/dp/0393065154/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_1
http://www.nti.org/gsn/article/the-pentagons-secret-plans-to-secure-pakistans-nuclear-arsenal/
There was just the right amount of high yield uranium bearing materials in teh same place that it started a reaction, which eventually burned out. This is why you don't see uranium in very high concentrations in the wild.
Its on Audiobook if TL/DR
>There was justifiable cause for war with Iraq independent of WMDs in 2003.
Not according to the guy in charge of the weapons inspections during the Clinton Administration.
Scott Ritter - Iraq Confidential: The Untold Story of the Intelligence Conspiracy to Undermine the UN and Overthrow Saddam Hussein
As a result of the American occupation, and the direction of the Cold War, Japan became extremely, deeply linked to American security interests. As such, they fell under the American "nuclear umbrella" for deterrence against other nuclear powers, and even had American nuclear weapons stationed on their soil. But more to the point, it also meant that there was strong pressure from the US not to develop their own nuclear weapons, which would only serve to complicate regional power issues and diminish the ability of the United States to use its own discretion in handling them. Such, in any case, is one theory of why the US more or less forbade its allies from getting the bomb (when it could).
You're thinking of MIRVs - multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles. ICBMs are "intercontinental ballistic missiles", which is what North Korea is currently working on. MIRVs can be ICBMs, but ICBMs are not always MIRVs.
Speaking of ICBMs, if you're into history, specifically the Cold War arms race, this book is a fantastic read. It's a bit outdated now that a lot of the Russian's side of things is declassified, but still worthwhile IMO.
Edit: /u/Mehowthegreat don't worry, ICBMs scare me too. I'd be more worried about civilians getting hit by ICBMs than by MIRVs though.
As euklides said, SAS are more akin to Delta Force.
I rememember reading here (admittedly it might not be all that reliable) that the SEAL on secondment with the SBS guys struggled hiking with all his kit because it wasn't such a massive part of their training.
I mean logically the burden of proof is on the person making the assertion. Hard to prove a negative. That said I recommend this book (edited by among others former SecDef Ashton Carter) which goes into almost pornographic detail on nuclear operations, and what the silos can and cannot do (and this capability is not listed).
Managing Nuclear Operations https://www.amazon.com/dp/0815713134/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_yYPEDb93AGNXH
There's a really cool book that describes the entire history of the atomic industry in the United States at a very high level that discusses this. It's called Building the Bombs
Even the War Powers Resolution – which was designed to check executive power over the armed forces further to Article I Section 8 – admits a 48-hour window in which the President can commit armed forces to military action without notifying Congress. So at the very least, there's that.
Apparently this specific question is still ambiguous enough to warrant entire books but there exist many examples of Presidents from Reagan to Obama having ordered strikes and other military actions without congress passing a formal declaration of war. (I liked this article from the Congressional Institute, which mentions a few such examples.)
Choosing ten favourites is almost impossible. Here's a list of ten books that I enjoyed, in no particular order and as they occurred to me.
It's a rather eclectic mix with science, history, biography, historical espionage, science fiction, historical fiction etc.
Nuclear War Diary? I don't know anything about this one, but maybe the cover will be familiar.
http://www.amazon.com/Nuclear-War-Diary-James-Sanford/dp/0915256282
It's out of date, but it was written deep in the Cold War and if you can find a copy you might enjoy it: Nuclear War: What's in it for You?
War Day is fiction but it's definitely worth a read as well.
I think Alibris is your friend when looking for this kind of thing of course...
You really need to change your tag to FOX news. You take things out of context to support your view.
>When someone gets religion, it goes bad. If you want to see an example look at Jonestown, Nazi Germany or the Khmer Rouge. All three of them had leaders who believed in something, in some cases God and in other cases their own ideology to the point where bad things happened to a lot of people.
Reading the above statement I listed out three examples of religion &/or ideology as the cause of slaughter.
>And you still have not addressed the main point I'm making: you are a horrible person because you'd rather have people tortured by the Shah for the sake of "stability".
The current leadership of Iran is making remarkably good progress towards nuclear weapons. The current leadership of Iran could use nukes against Israel that would ultimately lead to Nuclear winter. Of course once Iran goes nuclear, more than likely Saudi Arabia or Egypt will go nuclear as well to counter. A fully nuclear Middle East is not something the world will live through. So yes, "stability", as in not seeing the world end, I'm for.
>Now apparently, if you were one day detained and tortured by the government, no one should help you because it might be for the greater good, right?
It's called rising up and revolting. It worked quite well in Libya, and is under way in Syria. That being said, when the possible outcome of a revolution is a Theocratic nutjob of a country (yes Iran is a Democracy, however the Ayatollah can veto appointments or laws considered not Islamic, IOW's Iran has as much Democracy as the Ayatollah allows) you do not come in and tell the current leader to back off and LET THAT HAPPEN. If the radicals were secularists who believed in the rule of law, then so be it, but what Iran became is a doggrel mess of a country.
Anyways, I'm done with you. Have a good day and I highly suggest you pick up a book and start understanding how the world works.
The Cold and the Dark: The World After Nuclear War
The Shia Revival: How Conflicts within Islam Will Shape the Future
I read an autobiography of a machinist for the Manhattan project that was facinating. Its been a few years but I believe this is it. There's a passage that struck me where he delivers a plutonium sphere to one of the technical areas, meaning that he had several trillion dollars worth of metal sphere rolling around in the back of his truck.
Say my name
Thermonuclear Monarchy https://www.amazon.com/Thermonuclear-Monarchy-Choosing-Between-Democracy/dp/0393080080/