The bomb : a new history / Stephen M. Younger.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Younger, Stephen Michael, 1951-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Nuclear weapons--United States--History.

Nuclear weapons.

Weapons of mass destruction.

History.

United States.

Weapons of mass destruction--United States--History.

Physical Description:

xiii, 238 pages : illustrations, photographs ; 21 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Ecco Press, [2009]

Summary:

From his years in U.S. weapons systems to his meetings with nuclear arms experts in Moscow, former weapons designer Stephen M. Younger has witnessed firsthand the making of nuclear policy. With a deep understanding of both the technology and the politics, he guides us from the Manhattan Project to the Cold War and into the present day, illuminating how nuclear weapons fit into our globalized, war-plagued world. Younger reveals the myths and realities of how these weapons work, and how our nuclear policy evolved to what it is today. Does the United States genuinely need a massive stockpile in an era of precision bombs and missile defense? Under what circumstances might we need nuclear weapons in the future? How does the proliferation of weapons in the hands of other nations affect our own nuclear policy?--From publisher description.

Contents:

Introduction: Why nuclear weapons in the twenty-first century?

A short history of nuclear weapons

How did we arrive at the theory of mutually assured destruction?

Current nuclear arsenals

Targets and targeting

Replacing nuclear weapons with advanced conventional weapons

Nuclear proliferation

Defense against nuclear attack

Maintaining our nuclear forces

The role of nuclear weapons in the twenty-first century.

Notes:

Includes index.

ISBN:

9780061537196

0061537195

OCLC:

232977339