Command and Control - Softcover

Schlosser, Eric

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1594202389 ISBN 13: 9781594202384

Publisher: Penguin LCC US, 2013

Synopsis

Paperback. Pub Date :2013-09-24 Language: English Publisher: Penguin Books From famed investigative journalist Eric Schlosser. author of Fast Food Nation. comes Command and Control a ground-breaking account of the management of nuclear weaponsA 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 Schlosser reveals that this question has never been resolved. and while other headlines dominate the news. nuclear weapons still pose a grave risk to mankind.At the heart of Command and Control lies the story of an accident at a missile silo in rural Arkansas. where a handful of men struggled to prevent the explosion of a ballistic missile carrying the most powerf...

About this title

Review

"Los Angeles Times"
"Deeply reported, deeply frightening... a techno-thriller of the first order."
"The New Yorker"
"An excellent journalistic investigation of the efforts made since the first atomic bomb was exploded, outside Alamogordo, New Mexico, on July 16, 1945, to put some kind of harness on nuclear weaponry. 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..."Command and Control" is how nonfiction should be written." (Louis Menand)
"Time "magazine
"A devastatingly lucid and detailed new history of nuclear weapons in the U.S. ... fascinating." (Lev Grossman)
"Financial Times"
""Command and Control" ranks among the most nightmarish books written in recent years; and in that crowded company it bids fair to stand at the summit. It is the more horrific for being so incontrovertibly right and so damnably readable. Page after relentless page, it drives the vision of a world trembling on the edge of a fatal precipice deep into your reluctant mind... a work with the multilayered density of an ambitiously conceived novel... Schlosser has done what journalism does at its best when at full stretch: he has spent time - years - researching, interviewing, understanding and reflecting to give us a piece of work of the deepest import."
"The Guardian"
"The strength of Schlosser's writing derives from his ability to carry a wealth of startling detail (did you know that security at Titan II missile bases was so lapse you could break into one with just a credit card?) on a confident narrative path."
"San Francisco Chronicle"
"Perilous and gripping... Schlosser skillfully weaves together an engrossing account of both the science and the politics of nuclear weapons safety... The story of the missile silo accident unfolds with the pacing, thrill and techno details of an episode of "24.""
"New York Times Book Review"
"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."
"Mother Jones"
"Easily the most unsettling work of nonfiction I've ever read, Schlosser's six-year investigation of America's 'broken arrows' (nuclear weapons mishaps) is by and large historical--this stuff is top secret, after all--but the book is beyond relevant. It's critical reading in a nation with thousands of nukes still on hair-trigger alert... "Command and Control" reads like a character-driven thriller as Schlosser draws on his deep reporting, extensive interviews, and documents obtained via the Freedom of Information Act to demonstrate how human error, computer glitches, dilution of authority, poor communications, occasional incompetence, and the routine hoarding of crucial information have nearly brought about our worst nightmare on numerous occasions."
"Vanity Fair"
"Eric Schlosser detonates a truth bomb in "Command and Control," a powerful expose about America's nuclear weapons."
"Publishers Weekly" (starred):
"Nail-biting... thrilling... Mixing expert commentary with hair-raising details of a variety of mishaps, [Eric Schlosser] makes the convincing case that our best control systems are no match for human error, bad luck, and ever-increasing technological complexity."
"Kirkus Reviews" (starred):
"Vivid and unsettling... An exhaustive, unnerving examination of the illusory safety of atomic arms."
Lee H. Hamilton, former U.S. Representative; Co-Chair, Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future; Director, the Center on Congress at Indiana University:
"The lesson of this powerful and disturbing book is that the world's nuclear arsenals are not as safe as they should be. We should take no comfort in our skill and good fortune in preventing a nuclear catastrophe, but urgently extend our maximum effort to assure that a nuclear weapon does not go off by accident, mistake, or miscalculation."

"Los Angeles Times"
Deeply reported, deeply frightening a techno-thriller of the first order.
"The New Yorker"
An excellent journalistic investigation of the efforts made since the first atomic bomb was exploded, outside Alamogordo, New Mexico, on July 16, 1945, to put some kind of harness on nuclear weaponry. 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 "Command and Control" is how nonfiction should be written. (Louis Menand)
"Time "magazine
A devastatingly lucid and detailed new history of nuclear weapons in the U.S. fascinating. (Lev Grossman)
"Financial Times"
"Command and Control" ranks among the most nightmarish books written in recent years; and in that crowded company it bids fair to stand at the summit. It is the more horrific for being so incontrovertibly right and so damnably readable. Page after relentless page, it drives the vision of a world trembling on the edge of a fatal precipice deep into your reluctant mind... a work with the multilayered density of an ambitiously conceived novel Schlosser has done what journalism does at its best when at full stretch: he has spent time years researching, interviewing, understanding and reflecting to give us a piece of work of the deepest import.
"The Guardian"
The strength of Schlosser's writing derives from his ability to carry a wealth of startling detail (did you know that security at Titan II missile bases was so lapse you could break into one with just a credit card?) on a confident narrative path.
"San Francisco Chronicle"
"Perilous and gripping Schlosser skillfully weaves together an engrossing account of both the science and the politics of nuclear weapons safety The story of the missile silo accident unfolds with the pacing, thrill and techno details of an episode of "24.""
"New York Times Book Review"
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.
"Mother Jones"
Easily the most unsettling work of nonfiction I've ever read, Schlosser's six-year investigation of America's broken arrows (nuclear weapons mishaps) is by and large historical this stuff is top secret, after all but the book is beyond relevant. It's critical reading in a nation with thousands of nukes still on hair-trigger alert... "Command and Control" reads like a character-driven thriller as Schlosser draws on his deep reporting, extensive interviews, and documents obtained via the Freedom of Information Act to demonstrate how human error, computer glitches, dilution of authority, poor communications, occasional incompetence, and the routine hoarding of crucial information have nearly brought about our worst nightmare on numerous occasions.
"Vanity Fair"
Eric Schlosser detonates a truth bomb in "Command and Control," a powerful expose about America s nuclear weapons.
"Publishers Weekly" (starred):
"Nail-biting... thrilling... Mixing expert commentary with hair-raising details of a variety of mishaps, [Eric Schlosser] makes the convincing case that our best control systems are no match for human error, bad luck, and ever-increasing technological complexity."
"Kirkus Reviews" (starred):
"Vivid and unsettling... An exhaustive, unnerving examination of the illusory safety of atomic arms."
Lee H. Hamilton, former U.S. Representative; Co-Chair, Blue Ribbon Commission on America s Nuclear Future; Director, the Center on Congress at Indiana University:
The lesson of this powerful and disturbing book is that the world s nuclear arsenals are not as safe as they should be. We should take no comfort in our skill and good fortune in preventing a nuclear catastrophe, but urgently extend our maximum effort to assure that a nuclear weapon does not go off by accident, mistake, or miscalculation. "

Los Angeles Times
Deeply reported, deeply frightening a techno-thriller of the first order.
The New Yorker
An excellent journalistic investigation of the efforts made since the first atomic bomb was exploded, outside Alamogordo, New Mexico, on July 16, 1945, to put some kind of harness on nuclear weaponry. 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 Command and Control is how nonfiction should be written. (Louis Menand)
Time magazine
A devastatingly lucid and detailed new history of nuclear weapons in the U.S. fascinating. (Lev Grossman)
Financial Times
Command and Control ranks among the most nightmarish books written in recent years; and in that crowded company it bids fair to stand at the summit. It is the more horrific for being so incontrovertibly right and so damnably readable. Page after relentless page, it drives the vision of a world trembling on the edge of a fatal precipice deep into your reluctant mind... a work with the multilayered density of an ambitiously conceived novel Schlosser has done what journalism does at its best when at full stretch: he has spent time years researching, interviewing, understanding and reflecting to give us a piece of work of the deepest import.
The Guardian
The strength of Schlosser's writing derives from his ability to carry a wealth of startling detail (did you know that security at Titan II missile bases was so lapse you could break into one with just a credit card?) on a confident narrative path.
San Francisco Chronicle
"Perilous and gripping Schlosser skillfully weaves together an engrossing account of both the science and the politics of nuclear weapons safety The story of the missile silo accident unfolds with the pacing, thrill and techno details of an episode of 24."
New York Times Book Review
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.
Mother Jones
Easily the most unsettling work of nonfiction I've ever read, Schlosser's six-year investigation of America's broken arrows (nuclear weapons mishaps) is by and large historical this stuff is top secret, after all but the book is beyond relevant. It's critical reading in a nation with thousands of nukes still on hair-trigger alert... Command and Control reads like a character-driven thriller as Schlosser draws on his deep reporting, extensive interviews, and documents obtained via the Freedom of Information Act to demonstrate how human error, computer glitches, dilution of authority, poor communications, occasional incompetence, and the routine hoarding of crucial information have nearly brought about our worst nightmare on numerous occasions.
Vanity Fair
Eric Schlosser detonates a truth bomb in Command and Control, a powerful expose about America s nuclear weapons.
Publishers Weekly (starred):
"Nail-biting... thrilling... Mixing expert commentary with hair-raising details of a variety of mishaps, [Eric Schlosser] makes the convincing case that our best control systems are no match for human error, bad luck, and ever-increasing technological complexity."
Kirkus Reviews (starred):
"Vivid and unsettling... An exhaustive, unnerving examination of the illusory safety of atomic arms."
Lee H. Hamilton, former U.S. Representative; Co-Chair, Blue Ribbon Commission on America s Nuclear Future; Director, the Center on Congress at Indiana University:
The lesson of this powerful and disturbing book is that the world s nuclear arsenals are not as safe as they should be. We should take no comfort in our skill and good fortune in preventing a nuclear catastrophe, but urgently extend our maximum effort to assure that a nuclear weapon does not go off by accident, mistake, or miscalculation. "

Los Angeles Times
"Deeply reported, deeply frightening... a techno-thriller of the first order."

The New Yorker
"An excellent journalistic investigation of the efforts made since the first atomic bomb was exploded, outside Alamogordo, New Mexico, on July 16, 1945, to put some kind of harness on nuclear weaponry. 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...Command and Control is how nonfiction should be written." (Louis Menand)

Time magazine
"A devastatingly lucid and detailed new history of nuclear weapons in the U.S. ... fascinating." (Lev Grossman)

Financial Times
"Command and Control ranks among the most nightmarish books written in recent years; and in that crowded company it bids fair to stand at the summit. It is the more horrific for being so incontrovertibly right and so damnably readab...

About the Author

Eric Schlosser is the author of The New York Times bestsellers Fast Food Nation and Reefer Madness. His work has appeared in The Atlantic Monthly, Rolling Stone, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, and The Nation.

Edition details

• Publisher: Penguin LCC US
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1594202389
• ISBN 13: 9781594202384
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English