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Bomb Scare: The History and Future of Nuclear Weapons | 
 enlarge | Author: Joseph Cirincione
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Category: Book
List Price: $18.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  13 reviews
Sales Rank: 89847
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 224
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 5 x 0.6
ISBN: 0231135114
Dewey Decimal Number: 355
EAN: 9780231135115
ASIN: 0231135114
Publication Date: July 18, 2008
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Shipping: International shipping available
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Product Description
Beginning with the atomic discoveries of the 1930s, Joseph Cirincione unravels the science, strategy, and politics that have fueled the development of nuclear stockpiles and increased the chance of a nuclear terrorist attack. He also explains why many nations choose not to pursue nuclear weapons, pulling from this a solution to the world's proliferation problem that balances force and diplomacy, enforcement and engagement to yield a steady decrease in deadly arsenals. A unique blend of history, theory, and security analysis, Bomb Scare not only offers a clear understanding of this issue but also provides the tools to prevent another nuclear attack.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 8 more reviews...
 Highly recommended & a great read September 28, 2008
Joseph Cirincione has provided us with a wonderful, concise history of nuclear weapons and the diplomacy behind the nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction in the atomic era. At 224 pages it is a quick, well written and very informative read and a fantastic introduction to the world of atomic and thermonuclear weapons in an age when nuclear terrorism is a real threat. Readers who do not remember the cold war or students new to the subject will have to seek other source materials to get a true idea of the destructive power and horrors associated with a nuclear detonation (or full on nuclear exchange; less likely in the post cold war era), but that was not the intention of this book. A thorough understanding of the policy implications of weapons reductions strategies, the securing of loose nuclear material and preventing future nuclear states is provided, and the knowledge contained in Bomb Scare will assist voters decision making when selecting leaders to deal with these complex issues.
 Strong on policy; watch the physics September 12, 2008
This book reviews the history of nuclear weapons and nonproliferation agreements and offers some solutions to the threat of nuclear terrorism as well as ideas to address lack of security of the nuclear fuel supply and preventing the development of new nuclear-weapon states. Cirincione clearly knows his policy issues and history. As often happens with policy-trained writers, however, some of the technical details get garbled: a discussion of assembly timing issues in the gun and implosion mechanisms of Little Boy and Fat Man are sufficiently garbled as to indicate that the author is unaware of the crucial role of spontaneous fission, and one also finds the patently incorrect assertion that the Sun will be able to synthesize elements as heavy as sulfur. These are quibbles in comparison to the grand themes of nonproliferation and disarmament, but one would expect an author of this experience to be more careful: policy issues can hang on technicalities. For the physics, read Bernstein, Serber, Garwin & Charpak and Hoddeson, et al. Cirincione proposes a multi-national system of assured nuclear fuel services, a sort of updated Baruch plan minus any requirement or incentive for current nuclear weapon states to decrease their arsenals. He is silent, however, concerning the resistance such a scheme would likely face from likely US suspicion of a UN-administered program and the vested interests of producers and consumers of nuclear materials and weapons. He also does not address what to do with waste fuel, not a gram of which seems likely to see the inside of Yucca Mountain anytime soon. His suggestion that Israel consider abandoning its nuclear capability without proposals for security guarantees from its neighbors seems divorced from reality.
Perfect July 6, 2008
Perfect history of nuclear weapons. I read this short book three times in the span of two months.
 A useful introduction to the subject May 30, 2008
This slim volume is a good introductory text to the history and politics of Nuclear Proliferation and the challenges that face today's non-proliferation. Cirincione's text is clearly written as an introduction to the subject, but he does the reader the favor of not dumbing down the policy aspects of proliferation any more than is necessary for a 157 page survey of the subject.
The opening chapters are an engaging history of "The Bomb" and attempts to control it, including main scientific and political players in the development of the nuclear weapon, sprinkled with just enough physics to carry the reader through the more nitty-gritty aspects of the non-proliferation agreements that are discussed later in the book.
The rest of the book discussed the theories behind the motivations of proliferation and non-proliferation as well as the challenges that face the current non-proliferation regime. This section is alternately horrifying and hopeful, and the reader is left with many directions in which to think and research.
Well footnoted with a helpful glossary.
Comprehensive, Yet Succinct. Expansive, But Relevant April 5, 2008
Bomb Scare fills in the blank spaces that other books leave. It completes the picture of the history of nuclear weapons and brings into sharper focus their role in the future. It broadened my comprehension of the issues. And, Cirincione provides a balanced assessment of the interplay between policies, politics, and weapons.
Bruce A. Roth
www.daisyalliance.org
Author of No Time To Kill
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