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The Bomb
- Presidents, Generals, and the Secret History of Nuclear War
- Narrated by: Edward Bauer
- Length: 11 hrs and 14 mins
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Publisher's summary
From the author of the classic The Wizards of Armageddon and Pulitzer Prize finalist comes the definitive history of American policy on nuclear war - and Presidents’ actions in nuclear crises - from Truman to Trump.
Fred Kaplan, hailed by The New York Times as “a rare combination of defense intellectual and pugnacious reporter,” takes us into the White House Situation Room, the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s “Tank” in the Pentagon, and the vast chambers of Strategic Command to bring us the untold stories - based on exclusive interviews and previously classified documents - of how America’s presidents and generals have thought about, threatened, broached, and just barely avoided nuclear war from the dawn of the atomic age until today.
Kaplan’s historical research and deep reporting will stand as the permanent record of politics. Discussing theories that have dominated nightmare scenarios from Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Kaplan presents the unthinkable in terms of mass destruction and demonstrates how the nuclear war reality will not go away, regardless of the dire consequences.
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JFK's War with the National Security Establishment: Why Kennedy Was Assassinated
- By: Douglas Horne
- Narrated by: Larry Wayne
- Length: 7 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Ever since researchers and commentators began questioning the conclusions of the Warren Report on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the response has been: Why would the US national-security establishment - that is, the military and the CIA - kill Kennedy? As Douglas P. Horne details in this audiobook, JFK's War with the National Security Establishment: Why Kennedy Was Assassinated, the answer is because Kennedy's ideas about foreign policy collided with those of the US national-security establishment during the height of the Cold War.
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FINALLY THE TRUTH!
- By Helen Williamson on 05-28-16
By: Douglas Horne
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The Afghanistan Papers
- A Secret History of the War
- By: Craig Whitlock, The Washington Post
- Narrated by: Dan Bittner
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Unlike the wars in Vietnam and Iraq, the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 had near-unanimous public support. At first, the goals were straightforward and clear: Defeat al-Qaeda and prevent a repeat of 9/11. Yet soon after the United States and its allies removed the Taliban from power, the mission veered off-course and US officials lost sight of their original objectives.
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Eye-Opening Book
- By David J Ray on 09-01-21
By: Craig Whitlock, and others
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To Start a War
- How the Bush Administration Took America into Iraq
- By: Robert Draper
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 15 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Even now, after more than 15 years, it is hard to see the invasion of Iraq through the cool, considered gaze of history. For too many people, the damage is still too palpable, and still unfolding. Most of the major players in that decision are still with us, and few of them are not haunted by it, in one way or another. Perhaps it's that combination, the passage of the years and the still unresolved trauma, that explains why so many protagonists opened up so fully for the first time to Robert Draper.
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If you’ve grown weary of the current GOP administration’s incompetence...
- By Marynelle on 09-04-20
By: Robert Draper
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My Journey at the Nuclear Brink
- By: William Perry
- Narrated by: Kevin F Spalding
- Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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My Journey at the Nuclear Brink is a continuation of William J. Perry's efforts to keep the world safe from a nuclear catastrophe. It tells the story of his coming of age in the nuclear era, his role in trying to shape and contain it, and how his thinking has changed about the threat these weapons pose. In a remarkable career, Perry has dealt firsthand with the changing nuclear threat.
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His journey has just begun
- By Amazon Customer on 04-18-17
By: William Perry
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Kissinger's Shadow
- The Long Reach of America's Most Controversial Statesman
- By: Greg Grandin
- Narrated by: Brian O'Neill
- Length: 7 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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A new account of America's most controversial diplomat that moves beyond praise or condemnation to reveal Kissinger as the architect of America's current imperial stance. In his fascinating new book, acclaimed historian Greg Grandin argues that to understand the crisis of contemporary America - its never-ending wars abroad and political polarization at home - we have to understand Henry Kissinger.
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A Rehash of Rehashes...nothing new
- By A. M. on 10-06-19
By: Greg Grandin
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The Abyss
- Nuclear Crisis Cuba 1962
- By: Max Hastings
- Narrated by: Max Hastings, John Hopkins
- Length: 19 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Bestselling author Max Hastings offers a welcome re-evaluation of one of the most gripping and tense international events in modern history—the Cuban Missile Crisis—providing a people-focused narrative that explores the attitudes and conduct of Russians, Cubans, Americans, and a terrified world that followed each moment as it unfolded.
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Good book, but has some issues
- By Mike From Mesa on 11-10-22
By: Max Hastings
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The Folly and the Glory
- America, Russia, and Political Warfare: 1945-2020
- By: Tim Weiner
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 10 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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From Tim Weiner, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, an urgent and gripping account of the 75-year battle between the US and Russia that led to the election and impeachment of an American president.
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Worst Narration Ever
- By Amy on 02-15-21
By: Tim Weiner
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Known and Unknown
- A Memoir
- By: Donald Rumsfeld
- Narrated by: Donald Rumsfeld
- Length: 30 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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A powerful memoir from the late former US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. With the same directness that defined his career in public service, Rumsfeld's memoir is filled with previously undisclosed details and insights about the Bush administration, 9/11, and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. It also features Rumsfeld's unique and often surprising observations on eight decades of history. Both a fascinating narrative and an unprecedented glimpse into history, Known and Unknown captures the legacy of one of the most influential men in public service.
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Inside view of five decades in politics
- By Brooks on 02-19-11
By: Donald Rumsfeld
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Duty
- Memoirs of a Secretary at War
- By: Robert M. Gates
- Narrated by: George Newbern, Robert M. Gates
- Length: 25 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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From the former secretary of defense, a strikingly candid, vivid account of serving Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. When Robert M. Gates received a call from the White House, he thought he'd long left Washington politics behind: After working for six presidents in both the CIA and the National Security Council, he was happily serving as president of Texas A&M University. But when he was asked to help a nation mired in two wars and to aid the troops doing the fighting, he answered what he felt was the call of duty.
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The Fighting Season
- By Cynthia on 01-28-14
By: Robert M. Gates
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The Doomsday Machine is Ellsberg's hair-raising insider's account of the most dangerous arms buildup in the history of civilization, whose legacy - and renewal under the Obama administration - threatens the very survival of humanity. It is scarcely possible to estimate the true dangers of our present nuclear policies without penetrating the secret realities of the nuclear strategy of the late Eisenhower and early Kennedy years, when Ellsberg had high-level access to them.
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Command and Control
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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.
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A miracle that we escaped the Cold War alive....
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The Making of the Atomic Bomb
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Beware limitations of the reader
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In December of 1938, a chemist in a German laboratory made a shocking discovery: When placed next to radioactive material, a Uranium atom split in two. That simple discovery launched a scientific race that spanned three continents. In Great Britain and the United States, Soviet spies worked their way into the scientific community; in Norway, a commando force slipped behind enemy lines to attack German heavy-water manufacturing; and deep in the desert, one brilliant group of scientists was hidden away at a remote site at Los Alamos.
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Clear and Concise History of the First Bomb
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Nuclear War
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- Narrated by: Annie Jacobsen
- Length: 11 hrs and 19 mins
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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.
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Great book, but read waaayyy to slow.
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- By: Steve Sheinkin
- Narrated by: Roy Roy Samuelson
- Length: 7 hrs and 11 mins
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In December of 1938, a chemist in a German laboratory made a shocking discovery: When placed next to radioactive material, a Uranium atom split in two. That simple discovery launched a scientific race that spanned three continents. In Great Britain and the United States, Soviet spies worked their way into the scientific community; in Norway, a commando force slipped behind enemy lines to attack German heavy-water manufacturing; and deep in the desert, one brilliant group of scientists was hidden away at a remote site at Los Alamos.
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What listeners say about The Bomb
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- JJ
- 04-24-22
Good book, narration bad
The narration is very frustrating and distracting. It’s read with over done and poor theatrics. This isn’t necessary in a non-fiction books. This is pushing me toward only buying non-fiction when read by the author.
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- Craig Newcomb
- 10-03-22
Excellent overview of nuclear weapons policy
The focus of this book is on the political aspects of nuclear weapons policy. It does shine a rather unfavorable light on Curtis LeMay. Ignore the Trump supporter reviews, the book is great.
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- C.W.O.
- 02-27-20
Good summary of the topic some interesting historical insights.
An interesting book, and if the listener is interested in the topic, a compelling listen. It explains how national nuclear weapons policy evolved, after development and use during WWII; Truman’s decision to place initial control in civil hands under the AEC; the consequence of loss of monopoly after the Berlin crisis; massive retaliation on civil population (where leadership and war industries existed); counter force, focusing on potential first strike in order to destroy Soviet attack capacity; the development of the Single Integrated Operating Plan (SIOP) that produces its own strange logic, and, perhaps by design ignored successive presidential guidance on the subject until late in the Cold War, and many other interesting twists and turns. One of the biggest surprise is the author’s apparent assessment that some of our presidential leaders perceived as doves (Carter, Clinton, and to a lesser degree Obama) have been more successful at nonproliferation efforts than some of our perceived Republican hawks. Indeed, it describes circumstances concerning North Korea during the run up to the Iraq War, which is the best evidence I’ve heard yet for avoiding what some have called wars of choice, and I was there and supported the effort. The book, however, seemed surprisingly kind to Reagan and Bush and complimentary of Obama, but if you are a Trump fan, you probably wont appreciate the author’s characterization of him in the last chapter. To be clear, this book covers the topic described. The author’s discussion and characterization of presidential leadership is a minor and probably inevitable part of the story, as the office of president provides the final guidance on setting nuclear weapons policy, and the person of the president is vested with the ultimate power to decide if and when to use such weapons. As the world returns to an era of potential armed conflict between Great Powers, the US, Russia and China, this book should be of interest to any concerned citizen seeking to understand the policy, and remaining areas of debate: first strike or no first strike, development and use of tactical theater nuclear weapons to counter Russia’s development of the same. All in all, a good listen. My only disappointment is that the author offered no comment on how developing weapons technologies, hypersonic missiles, which would seem to threaten land based ICBMs and aircraft carriers, and super fast nuclear armed torpedos, which could possibly threaten out boomer fleet, affected current strategy. Maybe in a second book.
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1 person found this helpful
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- K. Bachelor
- 06-07-20
Frightening but enlightening.
Kaplan successfully pulled together the historical threads of the story of American nuclear policy.
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- Rachelle Dietz
- 03-06-20
Mild Trump bashing
Little disappointed I didn't see the ending was a Trump bashing book. That's too bad.
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5 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 09-08-21
Incredible insight into the logical insanity
From 1945 to the present, this book covers the detailed bureaucracy and logical insanity of controling nuclear bombs and the US government's policy towards using them
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- Amazon Customer
- 05-19-21
Superb! Enlightening. A true historical masterpiece to illuminate the an average uninformed mind about nuclear weapons
From inception to present day, Kaplan explains how and why nuclear weapons constitute the ultimate consideration, and greatest world threat, in 20th and 21st century military conflict between super powers and nations related to them.
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- Anonymous User
- 07-05-20
Narrator unfamiliar with subject
The narrator is unbelievably irritating with his continued references to S-A-C rather than SAC (sack).
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- Kindle Customer
- 04-30-20
Interesting history to Great analysis.
The book goes administration to administration looking at different approaches to nuclear strategy. The book provides an intimate history of the conversations and conflicts at the highest levels of military and civilian power in the US government.
The last chapter, which dealt with President Trump's ... unique understanding of nuclear policy really shows how crazy some of the assumption made about nuclear war are. Fred Kaplan's writing is strong and the narration kept me interested
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- el jefe
- 11-21-21
Important read for academic and armchair students
40 years of study. A couple hundred books and hundreds of documents read. This is a benchmark work.
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