Nuclear War
A Scenario
Failed to add items
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
£0.99/mo for the first 3 months
Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Nuclear War
Buy Now for £12.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Annie Jacobsen
-
By:
-
Annie Jacobsen
About this listen
Brought to you by Penguin.
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 it could start in as little as 26 minutes and 40 seconds from now…
A pulse-pounding non-fiction thriller for listeners of American Prometheus by Kai Bird or Midnight in Chernobyl by Adam Higginbotham.
The first rule of nuclear war is that there are no rules.
Up to now, no one outside of official circles has known exactly what would happen if a rogue state launched a nuclear missile at the Pentagon. Second by second and minute by minute, these are the real-life protocols that choreograph the end of civilisation as we know it.
If a single nuclear missile is launched, it provokes two dozen in return. Frantic calls over secure lines work to confirm the worst as armoured helicopters are scrambled outside. Decisions over hundreds of millions of lives need to be made within six minutes, based on partial information, knowing that once launched, nothing is capable of halting the destruction.
Because the plans for General Nuclear War are among the most classified secrets held by the United States government, this book takes the listener up to the razor’s edge of what can legally be known. Based on dozens of new interviews with military and civilian experts who have built the weapons, been privy to the response plans, and been responsible for the decisions that will be made, this is the only account of what a nuclear exchange would look like.
Nuclear War is at once a compulsive non-fiction thriller and a powerful argument that we must rid ourselves of these world-ending weapons for ever.
Listeners also enjoyed...
What listeners say about Nuclear War
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Gergo Kiss
- 30-03-24
Breathtaking!
Well researched and presented. A cautionary tale on how our great civilization can end itself completely and irreversibly just under 60 minutes.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Duncan
- 31-03-24
Would make a great Hollywood film
Couldn't stop listening. Gripping and eye opening. Highly reccomend. Great format, analysis played out in a story.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Ciaran O Donnell
- 19-04-24
bravo
absolutely terrifying account of the potential future of mankind. I couldn't stop listening. would highly recommend to all.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance3 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- Bought it on Tinternet
- 03-07-24
Well researched but a bit of a polemic.
Although it's possible to pick holes in the scenario, this book is nevertheless a comprehensive and well-researched account of the structure and processes of the USA's nuclear enterprise. As such I would commend it to UK readers as our political class and often senior military figures take a surprisingly naive approach to our own nuclear deterrent. The capabilities and procedures of everything from early warning remote sensing to silo-launched intercontinental ballistic missiles are described in surprising detail. The book lays out a minute by minute chronology of a bolt-from-the-blue attack on the USA by North Korea and the subsequent conflagration as America's response is misinterpreted by Russia, interspersed with interludes explaining the development and character of selected elements of the nuclear enterprise, described by Jacobsen as 'history lessons'.
I found Jacobsen's strident and slightly breathless narration somewhat overblown at times, as was her repeated incredulity and shock at the destructive power of nuclear weapons, the size and nature of the US nuclear arsenal, and the plans for the possible employment of these weapons. Jacobsen is scornful of the concept of deterrence, which she addresses only in simple terms and does not really engage with the substantial body of deterrence theory, despite using a quote from Thomas Schelling - "the rationality of irrationality" - in my view somewhat out of context.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- david reside
- 08-07-24
Outstanding research
What a book, written covering just an hour or so of a nuclear war. The detail and explanations are amazing, I followed everything quite easily. The story, though fiction, could quite easily be non fiction, detailing the end of us all. I hate to say it, but it was refreshing to read something without a happy ending. The authors voice adds to the story, definitely could have a career in narration too.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- charlie wade
- 30-07-24
Scary and terrifying
Listened glued to the entire book in all its graphic and terrifying detail. The book was narrated by the author whose voice made every detail even more scary. It made me value life more and you must listen to this and tell everyone how pointless and stupid we are to even think that having these weapons is a good idea. As the author put it the real enemy is the nuclear weapon. Take from this what you can but to know that world that we live in can be destroyed entirely in less than two hours is awful. And what scared me more is the fact that once a icbm is launched it’s not stopping until it reaches its target no self destruction like in the movies or cancel button as soon as they launch they are unstoppable.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- MarcD
- 26-05-24
Mind blowing
Amazing book riveting from start to finish and a horrific account of the utter madness that is Nuclear War. The living will envy the dead.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Rob McDowall
- 19-05-24
Wonderfully shocking
Can’t really sum it up better than the title of my review but I’ll say this; this was one of my favourite listens in the last couple of years. Don’t expect to be able to dip in and dip out, I couldn’t. I wasn’t happy with half an hour here, ten minutes there, I had to finish it as soon as I could. I will definitely be listening to this again soon.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance3 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- SloshyDolphin
- 15-04-24
Boom
well written and interesting book that will scare the crap out of anyone with half a brain
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Morgoth
- 10-04-24
Great book
I really enjoyed this book which will soon be made into a movie by the legendary Denis Villeneuve.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!