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Nuclear War

A Scenario

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Nuclear War

By: Annie Jacobsen
Narrated by: Annie Jacobsen
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The INSTANT New York Times bestseller

Instant Los Angeles Times bestseller

Finalist, Dayton Literary Peace Prize

One of NPR's Books We Love

One of Newsweek Staffers' Favorite Books of the Year

Shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize

“In Nuclear War: A Scenario, Annie Jacobsen gives us a vivid picture of what could happen if our nuclear guardians fail…Terrifying.”—Wall Street Journal

There is only one scenario other than an asteroid strike that could end the world as we know it in a matter of hours: nuclear war. And one of the triggers for that war would be a nuclear missile inbound toward the United States.

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, based on dozens of exclusive new interviews with military and civilian experts who have built the weapons, have been privy to the response plans, and have been responsible for those decisions should they have needed to be made. Nuclear War: A Scenario examines the handful of minutes after a nuclear missile launch. It is essential reading, and unlike any other book in its depth and urgency.

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Best of 2024
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Best of 2024 National & International Security Nuclear Warfare Military National Security War Weapons & Warfare Freedom & Security Inspiring Thought-Provoking Politics & Government Military Science Middle East Air Force Imperial Japan
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Meticulously Researched Content • Compelling Narrative Approach • Author's Soothing Voice • Educational Historical Context

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I’m not even done yet and I’m reviewing. This is a MUST LISTEN. But it will make your stomach churn and may give you night terrors.

I’m sitting here in the 3 mile radius of Buckley Space Force Base and thinking I need to make plans in case this ever happens. But I can’t make plans. I’ll be vaporized. I have friends in California and DON’T want to hear her say, “It is a warm day at the end of March” because today is a warm day at the end of March and it is too G-D REAL.

Ms. Jacobsen has exhaustively researched the scenario of thermonuclear attack. She’s interviewed dozens of high level authorities. There is a ton of detail here about our defense and offense plans, weapons, how the whole thing would play out, and why. Some was known to me, most is new.

I’ve read many fictional accounts, like On The Beach and Alas, Babylon. I’ve seen the movies. This book is FAR more real than any of them.

She will get the Pulitzer for this.

Listening suggestion: increase the speed to 1.2 if her voice seems a bit incongruous with the text.

I Had A Very Bad Night

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This was written in a very unique, gripping way. Annie has done the world a justice. The amount of detail, beginning with the SECOND after a rocket is launched, all the way to the effects it could have on earth years after, is simply astounding. This is a move to the top of your list book.

Humanity MUST listen

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Annie is my favorite investigative journalist and writer that I've come across. I listened to this book over the course of just two days. The horrific yet fantastic realization is it just like Game of Thrones, everybody dies, but in this tale the best place to be is directly under the thermal nuclear weapon when it goes off, and that the base human desire to survive is complete folly. This book lays out in fantastic and unarguable detail the reality that deterrence is a silly idea based on rational Homosapien. But what kind of rational Homosapien creates a weapon based on the core of a star. This book might change who you vote for, but it will also make you love your family and your pets that much more and appreciate how beautiful the Earth is. Like all her other books, I will listen to this more than once.

A beyond sobering truth: ground zero is the best place to be.

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Wow — I’m speechless. There were many times throughout this book that I had to stop what I was doing and sit there, mouth agape. When I’d finish my session, I’d often find myself sitting in silence, wondering how we, as a species, got to this point. Definitely a terrifying read, one which I’d consider a must-read.

A terrifying must-listen

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This is the only book that has ever truly scared me. It will change how you think. So many things I did not know.

Scary as hell

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