Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety Audiobook CD – Audiobook Author: Visit Amazon's Eric Schlosser Page | Language: English | ISBN:
0143145010 | Format: EPUB
Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety Audiobook CD – Audiobook Description
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Nuclear bombs must be handled with the proper care, yet that is not always the case. Mentioning harrowing mishaps in the history of the American atomic arsenal, Schlosser singles out one for detailed dramatization, the explosion in 1980 of a Titan II missile. Some airmen were killed and injured, but since the warhead didn’t detonate, the safety system appeared to have worked. Color Schlosser skeptical, for, as he recounts this accident, which began with a mundane incident—a dropped tool that punctured the missile—he delves into nuclear weapon designs. Those are influenced by the requirement that the bomb must always detonate when desired and never when not. Citing experts in the technology of nuclear weaponry who have pondered the “never” part of the requirement, Schlosser highlights their worry about an accidental nuclear explosion. Underscored by cases of dropped, burned, and lost bombs, the problem of designing a safe but reliable bomb persists (see also The Bomb, 2009, by weapons engineer Stephen Younger). Well researched, reported, and written, this contribution to the nuclear-weapons literature demonstrates the versatility of Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation (2001). --Gilbert Taylor
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
Review
A work with the multi-layered density of an ambitiously conceived novel -- John Lloyd Financial Times Command and Control is how non-fiction should be written ... By a miracle of information management, Schlosser has synthesized a huge archive of material, including government reports, scientific papers, and a substantial historical and polemical literature on nukes, and transformed it into a crisp narrative covering more than fifty years of scientific and political change. And he has interwoven that narrative with a hair-raising, minute-by-minute account of an accident at a Titan II missile silo in Arkansas, in 1980, which he renders in the manner of a techno-thriller New Yorker The strength of Schlosser's writing derives from his ability to carry a wealth of startling detail on a confident narrative path -- Ed Pilkington Guardian Disquieting but riveting ... fascinating ... Schlosser's readers (and he deserves a great many) will be struck by how frequently the people he cites attribute the absence of accidental explosions and nuclear war to divine intervention or sheer luck rather than to human wisdom and skill. Whatever was responsible, we will clearly need many more of it in the years to come -- Walter Russell Mead New York Times Reads like a thriller ... A fascinating read and a gripping one -- Justin Webb [Praise for Eric Schlosser]: He tells us things we already suspect to be true, but don't dare think about Daily Telegraph Eric Schlosser may be the Upton Sinclair for this age ... He has a flair for dazzling scene-setting and an arsenal of startling facts Los Angeles Times Schlosser's reportage is as good as it gets GQ My vote is for Eric Schlosser's Command and Control. Do you really want to read about the thermonuclear warheads that are still aimed at the city where you live? Do you really need to know about the appalling security issues that have dogged nuclear weapons in the 70 years since their invention? Yes, you do. Schlosser's book reads like a thriller, but it's masterfully even-handed, well researched, and well organised. Either he's a natural genius at integrating massive amounts of complex information, or he worked like a dog to write this book. You wouldn't think the prospect of nuclear apocalypse would make for a reading treat, but in Schlosser's hands it does -- Jonathan Franzen Guardian, Books of the Year
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
See all Editorial Reviews
- Audio CD
- Publisher: Penguin Audio; Unabridged edition (September 17, 2013)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0143145010
- ISBN-13: 978-0143145011
- Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 5.3 x 2.1 inches
- Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
When Mr. Schlosser initially contacted me several years ago I was skeptical with respect to what his intentions were. Other stories and articles have been written about the incident at Damascus, AR. To many of us who experienced it on site that night it seemed there was no one who "got it right".
To put to rest any concerns I had I contacted Al Childers after learning he had spoken to Mr. Schlosser. I have always had the highest regard for Al and his opinions; hence I participated in the project. After leaving Little Rock AFB we both were transferred to Vandenberg AFB and worked in the same building.
I appreciate the integrity of Eric Schlosser who did what any good writer, or investigator, should do. He collected the facts and reported them, how refreshing is that in this era where so many run off and write, or report, half cocked. This entire book was researched in more detail than I ever imagined. Although I was there that night Mr. Schlosser reported things I didn't know simply because I didn't have the right or need.
I have read several reviews in which the writers refer to the incident at Searcy, AR as being more serious. I would like to take this opportunity to simply say that while the loss of life is never to be taken lightly, the circumstances between these two accidents were as different as night and day. Sometimes it seems those writing the reviews forget that the Titan II at Searcy was not on alert meaning it had no warhead. The Titan II at Damascus was on full alert and armed. Mr. Schlosser got it right and was not swayed by the loss of life vs. the reason for his book!
Several of my fellow airmen who went back on site that night have passed away.
Think America's nuclear arsenal has always been pristinely safe? Thing again. In this riveting and meticulously researched book Eric Schlosser gives us a report card on accidents with nuclear weapons that have been periodically taking place since the weapons were introduced into a warring world in 1945. The book centers its narrative around the Damascus accident of 1980 in which an explosion in a Titan II ICBM housed in Damascus, Arkansas killed one and injured about twenty others. In Schlosser's capable hands, the event becomes a lens through which we can view the inherent frailty and risk in complex engineering endeavors masked by layers of bureaucracy. The volume is a real page turner which kept me awake late into the night. It is superbly researched and is packed with fascinating details about the workings of both nuclear weapons and the very human command and control infrastructure which oversees them. Some of the reviewers here are not too happy about the digressions, but in my opinion the digressions do a great job of recreating the history and the times leading up to the event. In addition all the facts are supported by an extensive bibliography running to more than a hundred pages.
This book is really two books in one, and both parts are equally gripping. The first part describes the Damascus accident in gory technical and human detail, starting from the time that a dropped socket blew a hole in the skin of the Titan II missile, spraying fuel around the missile and creating a dangerous buildup of fuel and oxidizer. What is scary is that the accident resulted from an honest, relatively trivial mistake that anybody could have made; in the parlance of systems engineers it was only a "normal accident".
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