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Nuclear War
- A Scenario
- Narrated by: Annie Jacobsen
- Length: 11 hrs and 19 mins
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Publisher's Summary
The INSTANT New York Times bestseller
Instant Los Angeles Times bestseller
“In Nuclear War: A Scenario, Annie Jacobsen gives us a vivid picture of what could happen if our nuclear guardians fail…Terrifying.”—Wall Street Journal
There is only one scenario other than an asteroid strike that could end the world as we know it in a matter of hours: nuclear war. And one of the triggers for that war would be a nuclear missile inbound toward the United States.
Every generation, a journalist has looked deep into the heart of the nuclear military establishment: the technologies, the safeguards, the plans, and the risks. These investigations are vital to how we understand the world we really live in—where one nuclear missile will beget one in return, and where the choreography of the world’s end requires massive decisions made on seconds’ notice with information that is only as good as the intelligence we have.
Pulitzer Prize finalist Annie Jacobsen’s Nuclear War: A Scenario explores this ticking-clock scenario, based on dozens of exclusive new interviews with military and civilian experts who have built the weapons, have been privy to the response plans, and have been responsible for those decisions should they have needed to be made. Nuclear War: A Scenario examines the handful of minutes after a nuclear missile launch. It is essential listening, and unlike any other book in its depth and urgency.
What the critics say
“Gripping . . . essential if you want to understand the complex and disturbing details that go into a civilization-destroying decision to drop the Bomb on an enemy. . . . Jacobsen has done her homework. She has spent more than a decade interviewing dozens of experts while mastering the voluminous literature on the subject, some of it declassified only in recent years.” — New York Times Book Review
“Timeless, masterful. . .A stomach-clenching, multi-perspective, ticking-clock, geopolitical thriller. Jacobsen expertly delivers a madman’s portrait of Armageddon, one made all the more impactful by the thought that it could literally occur at any moment. Almost novel-like in its presentation, Nuclear War: A Scenario represents the equivalent of an existential gut punch, a sickening and necessary reminder of how fragile every 21st century convenience becomes in the face of a blinding flash of light and near-instantaneous shockwave. Exhaustively researched and featuring interviews with professionals who truly understand just how close we continue to creep toward thermonuclear annihilation Nuclear War: A Scenario should be required reading for everyone alive today, especially for the politicians and policymakers who literally hold the precarious fate of our species in their hands.” — Forbes
“Nuclear War sketches out a global nuclear war with by-the-minute precision for all of the 72 minutes between the first missile launch and the end of the world. . . . the scenario is constructed from dozens of interviews and documentation, some of it newly declassified, as a factual grounding to describe what could happen.” — Politico
“An urgent warning guaranteed to cause nightmares.” — Kirkus Reviews
"Based on hundreds of interviews with many retired security officials and more-or-less declassified information in the public domain, what it captures brilliantly is the emotional chaos into which leaders would be plunged in such a situation. . . . These are scenes straight out of Dr Strangelove." — Telegraph
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What listeners say about Nuclear War
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Anon
- 2024-04-09
Incredibly effective in its goal
I’ve had a sick feeling for a few days since absorbing this book. I feel ‘absorbing’ is the appropriate term because most people, myself included, are completely ignorant of the fact that every day we are here is due purely to luck. Everything, literally everything, can all be gone in a few hours.
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- Anthony
- 2024-05-10
I learned alot!
Great listen ! Gets slower then I liked near the middle but that's expected in simulation/scenario titles.
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- RoadKutter
- 2024-03-29
It's terrifying and excellent, a real eye opener!
A story that is so close to reality you wonder what will the future bring? The reality of how much happens in a few minutes!
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- Anonymous User
- 2024-04-12
Riveting and horrifying
An absolutely stunning look into a hypothetical scenario that seems so far away, yet so close at the same time Jacobsen is a true artist.
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- John
- 2024-04-08
That Voice.
I normally like when the author reads their book however her voice made it very hard to listen. I kept falling asleep. 😴
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- Billy Jeffery
- 2024-05-11
Compelling. Important. Terrifying.
I consider this book one of the most interesting and thought provoking I have listened to this year! I strongly recommend it to the right reader.
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- Graham Borden
- 2024-04-12
A tragically captivating story
An amazing book, a very well minute by minute account of escalation and actions of many countries but be warned your consciousness will be changed after completing it.
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- C Anderson
- 2024-05-02
A scary look into hell on earth
This story is told in a narrative style but is heavily corroborated with facts and is fully sourced. The story explains how we only have 56 minutes to live once the hair trigger is pulled in a nuclear confrontation. I powered through this story gripped by the danger that we have created for ourselves.
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- Kindle Customer
- 2024-03-31
very detailed and well researched yet still hard to believe.
It's interesting, but I felt that it takes the scenario to an extreme that is hard to believe.
In particular, when discussing the impacts of an EMP attack, the author makes claims about how systems such as elevators in high rose buildings would be impacted, and they clearly did not research these details as they have made inaccurate claims. While there is chance of total apocalyptic full nuclear exchange, it's more likely that more of the systems will not operate as expected when so much of its reliability is counting on humans to behave as predicted.
The idea that the US or Russia would launch everything in their nuclear arsenals at each other when the initial attack came out of the blue and both sides know it was a third-party is very hard to swallow. Facts of continuity of government, and launch control mechanisms are very interesting and sources are credible.
I rate this 4 out of 5.
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- Amazon Customer
- 2024-04-10
The mad king and his nuke.
A frightening look at the reality of nuclear weapons and the probable consequences of their use. Don't read this at night.
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