Five Myths about Nuclear WeaponsAn explosive rethinking of the power and purpose of nuclear weapons--and a call for radical action Nuclear weapons have always been a serious but seemingly insoluble problem: while they're obviously dangerous, they are also, apparently, necessary. This groundbreaking study shows why five central arguments promoting nuclear weapons are, in essence, myths. It is a myth: - that nuclear weapons necessarily shock and awe opponents, including Japan at the end of World War II - that nuclear deterrence is reliable in a crisis - that destruction wins wars - that the bomb has kept the peace for sixty-five years - and that we can't put the nuclear genie back in the bottle Drawing on new information and the latest historical research, Wilson poses a fundamental challenge to the myths on which nuclear weapons policy is currently built. Using pragmatic arguments and an unemotional, clear-eyed insistence on the truth, he arrives at a surprising conclusion: nuclear weapons are enormously dangerous, but don't appear to be terribly useful. In that case, he asks, why would we want to keep them? This book will be widely read and discussed by everyone who cares about war, peace, foreign policy, and security in the twenty-first century. |
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LibraryThing Review
User Review - AmberTheHuman - LibraryThingGreat book. Short and to the point - doesn't get bogged down with what we should be doing, or technical whatnot, or confusing war tactics. He makes points that make sense and are both disturbing and ... Read full review
LibraryThing Review
User Review - nmele - LibraryThingWilson's five myths are all five just that, but his discussions vary in quality. The critical chapter is the one on the actual impact of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; Wilson cites ... Read full review
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
Myth 1 NUCLEAR WEAPONS SHOCK AND AWE OPPONENTS | 21 |
Myth 2 HBOMB QUANTUM LEAP | 54 |
Myth 3 NUCLEAR DETERRENCE WORKS IN A CRISIS | 66 |
Myth 4 NUCLEAR WEAPONS KEEP US SAFE | 87 |
Myth 5 THERE IS NO ALTERNATIVE | 104 |
Conclusion | 118 |
Back Matter | 125 |
Back Flap | 189 |
Back Cover | 190 |
Spine | 191 |
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Common terms and phrases
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Bibliographic information
| Title | Five Myths about Nuclear Weapons |
| Author | Ward Wilson |
| Edition | illustrated |
| Publisher | Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013 |
| ISBN | 054785787X, 9780547857879 |
| Length | 187 pages |
| Subjects | › › POLITICAL SCIENCE / International Relations / Arms Control |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |