Command and Control

Command and Control (2013) by Eric Schlosser. The author of Fast Food Nation takes on the scary subject of nuclear weapons and their handling by the government and by the military. The book is basically divided into two parts: a catalog of mistakes, near-disasters and false alarms, any of which could have led to nuclear war, and a detailed description of one accident, The Damascus Accident, in which a Titan II missile in a silo exploded. The subtitle of the book is "Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety." That pretty much tells the story. The fact that no nuclear weapons have accidentally detonated is only luck, he seems to be saying, and some sort of nuclear disaster in almost inevitable. Only time will tell if he is right, but this book is certainly enough to scare you into being a believer. I was appalled but not surprised to learn of the carelessness with which nuclear weapons have been designed and handled since the beginning of the atomic age. A scary, scary book, but a bit overlong. Grade: B