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Command and Control
- Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 20 hrs and 34 mins
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Publisher's Summary
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.
What the critics say
A New York Times Notable Book of 2013
"A devastatingly lucid and detailed new history of nuclear weapons in the US...fascinating." (Time magazine)
"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." Lev Grossman, Jonathan Franzen, The Guardian)
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What listeners say about Command and Control
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Strazimiri
- 2018-09-21
Abso-lutely Facinating
This is hands down one of the best books I've experienced in a while. The narration is good, very clearly read and what a bombshell story (hehe). I already know I will re-read or re-listen to this again. There are not that many pieces of literature that I have experienced that have value as great as this one. I love books but I haven't had the time available to find gems like this one lately, don't miss it. #Audible1
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- J
- 2019-01-29
Must Read for any Cold War enthusist
Great combination of history and stories. Really captures the fears of the cold war eara
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- Iain Hutchinson
- 2021-03-16
Excellent historical review
An excellent review of a time in history that altho not long ago is being rapidly forgotten.
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- Amazon Customer
- 2022-05-04
Very thorough and eye-opening
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.
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- ken l.
- 2020-01-21
Intriguing Book On Nuclear Weapons
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.
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- Anonymous User
- 2019-08-28
Worth a listen, good overview of the cold war.
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.
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- grant
- 2020-11-27
Excellent
This book was reccomended by Dan Carlin
I thoroughly enjoyed both the story and the narrator.
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- Bryan McAllister
- 2021-06-07
I Can't Believe I Didn't Know Any Of This
An extremely thorough and informative reveal of what the government was hiding while I was growing up unaware. I can't believe how often and how close we came to extinction.
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- Unknown
- 2023-07-17
An amazing account - must read!
Loved the book it its entirety. Opened up a secret light into Nuclear Weapons, their controls and rather frequent shortcomings. The ability to destroy man was cared for in a rather eye opening way in the early days. I really enjoyed the high level view of what appears to only be mutually assured destruction regardless of the circumstances of use, all the down to the precarious nature a tool can present. If you enjoy anything Cold War related you’ll love this read. The narration is top notch as well. Clear and compelling. Great book all around
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