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craftyanty's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
tense
medium-paced
5.0
"Everyone loses. Everyone."
Simultaneously fascinating and utterly terrifying, this genre-bending book made my heart race and eventually gave me nightmares. Annie Jacobsen has spent decades researching the nuclear weapon situation across the globe. She includes so much detail, from the development of these unfathomable weapons to the protocols set in place... hence, the "fascinating" element. Jacobsen then took the facts and intel she collected and used it to weave an intricate scenario of what we might experience if a nuclear war unfolded... that's where the "utterly terrifying" comes in. Jacobsen did a great job narrating the audio herself. I found her voice and cadence added to the tension of the scenario, but also felt that she sometimes sounded unnecessarily tense during the "History Lesson" chapters.
This was a great read, but it may simply be too upsetting for some. I'm not a highly anxious person, but I found myself needing to step away from it at times. For me, though, the most frightening thing about it all were the times she describes the "close calls" that nearly catapulted the world into nuclear wars. Countries have spent billions of dollars on making these weapons exist with the thought that their mere existence will make them ultimately unnecessary. All we can do, is keep our fingers crossed that that remains true.
Simultaneously fascinating and utterly terrifying, this genre-bending book made my heart race and eventually gave me nightmares. Annie Jacobsen has spent decades researching the nuclear weapon situation across the globe. She includes so much detail, from the development of these unfathomable weapons to the protocols set in place... hence, the "fascinating" element. Jacobsen then took the facts and intel she collected and used it to weave an intricate scenario of what we might experience if a nuclear war unfolded... that's where the "utterly terrifying" comes in. Jacobsen did a great job narrating the audio herself. I found her voice and cadence added to the tension of the scenario, but also felt that she sometimes sounded unnecessarily tense during the "History Lesson" chapters.
This was a great read, but it may simply be too upsetting for some. I'm not a highly anxious person, but I found myself needing to step away from it at times. For me, though, the most frightening thing about it all were the times she describes the "close calls" that nearly catapulted the world into nuclear wars. Countries have spent billions of dollars on making these weapons exist with the thought that their mere existence will make them ultimately unnecessary. All we can do, is keep our fingers crossed that that remains true.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, War, Child death, and Pandemic/Epidemic
lynds_13's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
fast-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Death, Murder, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, and War
alexrobinsonsupergenius's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
5.0
Wow, this has to be the most terrifying book I’ve ever read. A minute-by-minute account of what would happen if one country attacked another with a nuclear missile.
As crazy as it sounds the book is a real page turner, as we’ve all been conditioned by years of Hollywood thrillers to expect some last minute heroics to save the day but soon you realize Jack Bauer isn’t going to save the day by rescuing the Russian ambassador.
You’ll also realize that we’re not as protected as we think we are. Like many Americans I assumed we had powerful lasers that could shoot lasers at incoming missiles (or at least tell us where to shoot our anti-missile weapons). Spoiler alert: we spent billions on a system with about a 15% success rate.
The only possible silver lining is that it sounds like events would transpire so quickly (a nuke launched by NK could reach NYC in about 30 min, even less if shot from a submarine) most us would barely have time to comprehend what was happening before we disappeared in a flash. Assuming you live near a moderately sized city, of course. The rest of you get to stagger around a burning hellscape with your skin hanging off, which I’ll grant you is better than having to live in Jersey City.
As crazy as it sounds the book is a real page turner, as we’ve all been conditioned by years of Hollywood thrillers to expect some last minute heroics to save the day but soon you realize Jack Bauer isn’t going to save the day by rescuing the Russian ambassador.
You’ll also realize that we’re not as protected as we think we are. Like many Americans I assumed we had powerful lasers that could shoot lasers at incoming missiles (or at least tell us where to shoot our anti-missile weapons). Spoiler alert: we spent billions on a system with about a 15% success rate.
The only possible silver lining is that it sounds like events would transpire so quickly (a nuke launched by NK could reach NYC in about 30 min, even less if shot from a submarine) most us would barely have time to comprehend what was happening before we disappeared in a flash. Assuming you live near a moderately sized city, of course. The rest of you get to stagger around a burning hellscape with your skin hanging off, which I’ll grant you is better than having to live in Jersey City.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Genocide
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