Nuclear War: A Scenario
by Annie Jacobsen
View on GoodreadsIt starts with a North Korean thermonuclear strike on the Pentagon, a submarine-launched missile into California's Diablo Canyon nuclear plant, and Russia misreading the American response. Jacobsen plays it out in 24-minute blocks, and you watch how fast detection, decision and retaliation become full nuclear war.
Core ideas
- Minutes, not hours: Satellites hold a launch's heat signature for only about five minutes, and the president has only minutes to decide on retaliation.
- The machinery: Historical sidebars on Cold War planning, SBIRS satellites, STRATCOM and the nuclear football rest on interviews with military officials, scientists and former defense personnel.
- After the exchange: EMP effects and nuclear winter bring down the power grid, industrial food production and the internet.
Published2024
Pages373
ISBN9780593476093
ReadApr 2024
