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Command and Control

Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety

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Command and Control

Written by: Eric Schlosser
Narrated by: Scott Brick
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A myth-shattering exposé of America’s nuclear weapons.

Famed investigative journalist Eric Schlosser digs deep to uncover secrets about the management of America’s nuclear arsenal. A groundbreaking account of accidents, near misses, extraordinary heroism, and technological breakthroughs, Command and Control explores the dilemma that has existed since the dawn of the nuclear age: How do you deploy weapons of mass destruction without being destroyed by them? That question has never been resolved—and Schlosser reveals how the combination of human fallibility and technological complexity still poses a grave risk to mankind. While the harms of global warming increasingly dominate the news, the equally dangerous yet more immediate threat of nuclear weapons has been largely forgotten.

Written with the vibrancy of a first-rate thriller, Command and Control interweaves the minute-by-minute story of an accident at a nuclear missile silo in rural Arkansas with a historical narrative that spans more than 50 years. It depicts the urgent effort by American scientists, policy makers, and military officers to ensure that nuclear weapons can’t be stolen, sabotaged, used without permission, or detonated inadvertently. Schlosser also looks at the Cold War from a new perspective, offering history from the ground up, telling the stories of bomber pilots, missile commanders, maintenance crews, and other ordinary servicemen who risked their lives to avert a nuclear holocaust. At the heart of the book lies the struggle, amid the rolling hills and small farms of Damascus, Arkansas, to prevent the explosion of a ballistic missile carrying the most powerful nuclear warhead ever built by the United States.

Drawing on recently declassified documents and interviews with people who designed and routinely handled nuclear weapons, Command and Control takes readers into a terrifying but fascinating world that, until now, has been largely hidden from view. Through the details of a single accident, Schlosser illustrates how an unlikely event can become unavoidable, how small risks can have terrible consequences, and how the most brilliant minds in the nation can only provide us with an illusion of control. Audacious, gripping, and unforgettable, Command and Control is a tour de force of investigative journalism, an eye-opening look at the dangers of America’s nuclear age. Americas Military Politics & Government Public Policy United States Weapons & Warfare Military Policy Arkansas War US Air Force Imperial Japan Air Force Russia American Foreign Policy Cold War
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Great combination of history and stories. Really captures the fears of the cold war eara

Must Read for any Cold War enthusist

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Gives an informative yet casual, character driven, complete overview of the cold war nuclear arms race from the American point of view. Goes mostly in chronological order and explains in detail the events that shaped history. Explains the reasoning behind every nuclear policy from a mostly unbiased point of view.

This book is accessible to most people and very important to read. I highly recommend it to anyone even slightly interested in history, international politics, war and peace.

Worth a listen, good overview of the cold war.

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Sometimes it makes you shudder when you learn of such destructive force wielded by man, and the narrator lets you know it. Some sections were a bit boring, and the narrator's voice can sound monotone, but his voice lends nicely to the strange morbidity of talking about weapons of mass destruction.

Intriguing Book On Nuclear Weapons

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An excellent review of a time in history that altho not long ago is being rapidly forgotten.

Excellent historical review

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Given recent global events, the information in this book is very relevant. I walked away from it amazed and a little terrified at how close the US came to nuclear accidents and war several times. If the most powerful country on earth had this many publicly acknowledged issues with its nuclear weapons, imagine what countries with newer and less competent nuclear weapons programs have gone through in secret.

I was impressed with the narrator's performance as well. Despite the amount of complicated details and records covered in this book, his reading kept me focused and invested.

Very thorough and eye-opening

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