Der verstrahlte Westernheld

by Rudolph Herzog

In the spirit of Dr. Strangelove and The Atomic Café, a blackly sardonic people’s history of atomic blunders and near-misses revealing the hushed-up and forgotten episodes in which the great powers gambled with catastrophe. Rudolph Herzog, the acclaimed author of Dead Funny, presents a devastating account of history’s most irresponsible uses of nuclear technology. From the rarely discussed nightmare of “Broken Arrows” (40 nuclear weapons lost during the Cold War) to “Operation Plowshare” (a proposal to use nuclear bombs for large engineering projects, such as a the construction of a second Panama Canal using 300 H-Bombs) . . . Herzog focuses in on long-forgotten nuclear projects that nearly led to disaster.

Digging deep into archives, interviewing dozens of previously censored scientists, and including dozens of photos, Herzog also explores the “accidental” drop of a Nagasaki-type bomb on a train conductor’s home, the implanting of plutonium into patients’ hearts, and the invention of wild tactical nukes, including weapons designed to kill enemy astronauts.

Told in a riveting narrative voice, Herzog—the son of filmmaker Werner Herzog and the grandson of Nazis --- also draws on childhood memories of the final period of the Cold War in Germany, the country once seen as the nuclear battleground for NATO and the Warsaw Pact, and discusses evidence that Nazi scientists knew how to make atomic weaponry ... and chose not to. An unprecedented people’s history.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Science, War, Politics, Technology

253 pages, Hardcover

First published March 12, 2012

Reviews

[rameau · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review can also be found on Portable pieces of thought-blog.

”The problem, both in the West and behind the Iron Curtain, was a lack of imagination. No one was able to picture the worst-case scenario.”

That was fun. Slightly preachy, but it comes with the territory of stating the obvious about dire things that threaten life on earth. Also, the author—or translator—likes to use the word ironically quite a lot which makes things a lot less ironic. This could have been an intentional choice considering the subject matter.

Herzog starts with a short personal history and an explanation. This book isn’t about the most well known nuclear events in our history—Hiroshima and Nagasaki are mentioned in passing only—but about the lesser known chain(s) of events that led humanity to where we are now.

He talks about German scientists who were high currency in the nuclear game between superpowers before and after World War II. He talks about centrifuges, disasters and cleanups, the myth of tactical nuclear weapons, one man’s obsession, and nuclear tests in Australia as well as in Alaska. He talks about inhumane tests done in the name of medical science. The evolution of nuclear power and lost nuclear warheads are mentioned as well.

But what I found most fascinating weren’t the obvious problems with nuclear power—there’s waste, lots of it, and its half-life is 80 million years—or the ethical questions that come with it, nor was I particularly enthusiastic to read about the doomsday machines. No, it was the pacemakers.

Nuclear powered pacemakers. No need for battery changes!

Tiny problem is what happens after you’re dead. How do the authorities keep track of those plutonium batteries and do they end up in cemeteries or perhaps burning the back of an unfortunate orderly carrying a bin bag to trash. Oh, wait, that was the other interesting story. What happens when a company, a hospital acts responsibly but the government authorities do not? Four people die and hundreds suffer from radiation poisoning. And the death toll is relatively low thanks to an enterprising physicist.

I am somewhat familiar with the subject but people who hated sciences in school shouldn’t be afraid to read this book. There are a very few technical details and those that remain in the book are only there to further illustrate the historical context of each nuclear folly.

Because this book is more about the history and human stupidity when it comes to taking responsibility for scientific breakthroughs and how they're applied. This book is about the dangers of letting military prioritise between human lives, nature, and fleeting glory in battle. Or worse than that, not even a victory in an actual battle, just a show of strength.

To learn from your mistakes or the mistakes of others, you must first study history.



I received an advanced readers copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for this honest review.

[Steve Kemple · Rating 3 out of 5]

Despite being poorly written and ineptly cited, this is a fun little book full of weird, frightening, and darkly hilarious anecdotes. The last chapter really could stand on its own as a great piece of investigative journalism (or at least a really good long form blog entry), while some other chapters plod along with pages of less than interesting details. But still lots of fun!

[Vasil Kolev · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, had a lot of things I haven't heard of (for example, that SCRAM for nuclear reactors comes from "safety control rod axe man"). The book is needlessly alarmist at times, which goes against the author's goal to show the dangers of the nuclear technologies.

[Belhor Crowley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here, I want to write bits and pieces of the book which I found to be interesting:

**Spoilers**

"The Russian navy constructed a model of Manhattan on the shores of the lake to test whether the city could be flooded by an artificially induced tsunami."

"On october 20, 1961, the Red Army what was by far the biggest atom bomb in human history. The ANS602 or 'Tsar Bomba' weighed twenty seven tons and had a yield of fifty megatons, making it 1400 times more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki together. The resulting explosion could have destroyed Paris and its greater metropolitan area. The shock wave unleashed after the test traversed the world three times and was measured as far as New Zealand and in Norway it shattered window panes."

"Between 1949 and 1989 the Soviet Union detonated 496 atomic weapons in Semipalatinsk alone."

During the Cold War United States and USSR detonated several atomic bombs above the earth's atmosphere. The point was to see if these explosions could be used as a weapon against enemy satellites. It became obvious the tests were too effective! The atomic bombs created big EMP effects that destroyed both enemy and friendly equipment. NASA also objected to the operations. No one wanted to travel into a belt of radioactive material!

"The Neutron bomb was a tactical enhanced-radiation weapon designed to emit massive amount of radioactive neutrons. Fast Neutrons can only be absorbed by substances containing hydrogen, so theoretically they would have penetrated steel armor and reinforced concrete. It was thought that the tank divisions would have no chance against such a weapon. [...] Humans exposed to such weapons would live on for days before suffering incredibly painful deaths."

The Canniki bomb designed by US military had a yield equal to five megatons, which is five millions tons of TNT. Canniki was detonated in Amchitka area and it left the island permanently scarred. "At ground zero, the island's surface was raised some four and a half meters, while ugly fissures appeared elsewhere. Two lakes immediately dried up, leaving fish with shattered air-bladders flopping around helplessly on land. Hours after the explosion, small scale earthquakes still shook the island. [...] The Canniki detonation formed an artificial crater two kilometers wide and twelve meters deep, which quickly filled with water. Today it remains both the largest and deepest lake on the island."

United state once wanted to build an artificial canal by means of 'Nuclear Earth-moving'! The idea was to use 875 hydrogen bombs in Mexico's Tehuantepec. Also, there were secondary routes such as a route through Nicaragua using 925 hydrogen bombs. The canal in Mexico would cost around 2.275 billion dollars, and the canal through Nicaragua would cost 1.85 billion dollars.
The congress approved of the idea! and appropriated 17.5 million dollars for further studies into the feasibility of the idea. This was considered a 'peaceful nuclear program'.

"By mid-1960, as construction on a number of colossal plants was well underway, experts began to suspect that a core meltdown in such gigantic facilities would be absolutely catastrophic. Scientists' minds were haunted by the specter of the China Syndrome - the idea that an ultra-hot reactor core could melt the ground on which it stood all the way down to the center of the planet."

"In late 1985, the private radiology clinic Instituto Goiano moved to a new location within the city. Because of a legal dispute, a piece equipment - an italian-built Cesapan F-3000 teletherapy unit used to administer radiation treatment to cancer patients- was left behind at the old site. Clinic proprietors had warned the authorities of the potential danger the device posed, but nothing was done." During the later year parts of the building was tore down and a few of room which were left became a place for homeless people. During 1987, a metal scrap salvager heard rumors about valuable metal scraps which were left at the site. So he and his assistant came to collect the scrap metals. Upon finding the device - not knowing what it was or that it contained radioactive Cesium Chloride- they disassembled the device. Unwittingly they switched the Cesapan radiation head to 'treatment' position, causing it to emit steady burst of radiation. The two men then transported the device which was effectively a radiation firing cannon to the man's house. Shortly after they both fell ill, but suspected that it was something they had eaten. The assistant went to see a doctor with swollen hands and feet, vomiting and diarrhea. He was diagnosed with having a severe sort of allergy! The other man, trying to open the other parts of the device to see what was inside punctured the capsule containing radioactive Cesium Chloride and put a hole in it as big as a billiard ball. When a mysterious black powder came out, he suspected it was gunpowder and tried to set it on fire. The man took the device to a scrap metal shop to sell the part and the owner of the shop noticed both the man and the metal parts had a strange bluish glow, and he thought the device had magical powers. He purchased the device and then took it home to his family to admire it. Later on his relatives and other members of his family also came to admire the mysterious device and the substance which came with it. The man gave some of the black glowing powder to his brother and others close to him. Some of them rubbed the powder on their skin like glitter."
Obviously most of them died. But that's just what you get for being so incredibly stupid!

The Pulitzer prize winning writer and journalist Eileen Welsome detailed in her chilling book The Plutonium Files "Researchers chose patients who were in critical conditions and usually- but not always- considered terminally ill. Under the pretense of treating the patients, researchers injected them with radioactive substances. The patients had no idea they were being used as guinea pigs in a large human experiment. At regular intervals the doctors took urine, stool and blood samples from the patients to see how much of the radiation was being disposed of by the patients body." One of the patients was a four year old boy with leukemia. His parents had him flown from Australia to United States to get the best treatments possible! But instead of giving him the best treatments to try and save his life doctors injected him with a cocktail of plutonium 235, Yttrium and Cerium. "Shortly after returning to Australia, he died and excruciating death."
There are a few more cases detailed in this book. I'm going to skip them. But there could have been up to 20,000 of such involuntary tests. Sometimes doctors injected patients, sometimes pills with plutonium were given to them to swallow, telling them it was for their treatment, and sometimes there were hidden radioactive emitting devices hidden in wooden panels in the rooms. These sort of human experimentation was also done elsewhere, in USSR radioactive emitters where placed in prison cells as a method of punishment usually for political prisoners. The devices were placed in a way that the waves would hit the the person directly in the head. This was also done in United States' prisons and also to children in homes for mentally ill.



Read the book!

[Kirby Rock · Rating 3 out of 5]

This nutty little book was written by Werner Herzog's son, who has also written some controversial books about Nazi humor (those wacky Herzogs, am I right??). So basically, the content of this book is really crazy. The history of nuclear warheads is riddled with all kinds of preposterous mistakes and wildly unethical behavior. For example:

- Russians basically just throw all their old radioactive shit in the ocean-- and not even the middle of the ocean. There are dozens of old radioactive boats at the bottom of BAYS and such.

- The U.S. used to detonate nuclear bombs in outer space essentially just to see what would happen-- no particular reason -- and now the damn mantle of the earth is radioactive.

- Bikini Atoll in Hawaii has been radioactively uninhabitable since 1948 after the U.S. tricked all the Bikini folk into sacrificing the island for the testing of a device that would "bring peace to humanity." They were really just testing nuclear bombs, and all the Bikini people had to move to Arkansas. DICK MOVE.

- We all need to be freaking out about "mini-nukes": nuclear bombs that can fit in a backpack.

- The U.S. briefly considered nuking the moon to collect water (which makes up just 1% of the moon) for a potential moon colony.

This is just a sample of all the interesting and terrifying things you can learn about from this book. The writing is just okay. I would say it was lacking a little cohesion and kind of felt like a laundry list of fuck-ups. But it's still extremely interesting, especially if you know nothing about nuclear proliferation like me.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Short History of Nuclear Folly is exactly what it promises to be in the title. It's short and it outlines a brief history of how irresponsible humanity as a whole has been since we conceived nuclear weapons technology back in the 1930's and 1940's.

I enjoyed the book quite a bit. While I was familiar with some of the information about the early military tests the United States and the Soviet Union performed, I learned quite a bit more beyond that and entirely new information about Great Britain's programs. There is also plenty of interesting facts about the clean up efforts that have been undertaken and terrifying mishaps that have probably been all but forgotten as time as gone on.

Overall, it's a good book and would satisfy someone with a casual interest in the history of nuclear weapons and all the silly things we've done with them. It also serves as a good warning that as we continue dealing with the legacy of irresponsible nuclear testing and using nuclear material today, we should be mindful of where that could lead us.

[Owlseyes]

German Nukes Would Be a National Tragedy
Getting the bomb would put everything Germany stands for today at risk.
BY RUDOLPH HERZOG
in: http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/03/10/g...

-Braucht Deutschland Atomwaffen?
-Braucht die EU die Bombe?

US-Atombomben in Deutschland und Donald Trump | Panorama | NDR
in: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0DHc...

[Diogenes Grief · Rating 5 out of 5]

Horrifically entertaining. Before reading this I already had little faith in elected officials and governments. Now that it's read, this book makes me believe the world is continuously full of f@cking idiots with high IQs in charge of the most destructive stuff on planet Earth.

Peace, love, and swollen mushroom clouds ;)

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Terrifying true tales of atomic idiocy.

[Kirk Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book does not come off as well as Dead Funny, sometimes, perhaps, due to the translator, and mostly due to the original text. A lack of dates for some incidents occasionally makes it difficult to follow the chronological thread, especially since the author sometimes goes back and forth in time in a chapter; and the text seems more scattered than in the previous book. Still, it's at all times an engaging read; and while it seems less than thorough, and more of a regurgitation than a revealing, I suppose that's what the reader is requesting in a book this short.

[Eric Layton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is in the same vein as a few that I've recently read. It covers many of the unplanned, accidental, and insanely stupid events that have occurred around the world in the nuclear age.

Good read. The translation from German is very well done. The only issue I have with the book is the two or three errors in the text that were missed by the editors/proofers before printing.

[Ginnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not sure I fully agree with Herzog's take on the impossibility of any future for nuclear energy, but I found this an interesting, accessible, and informative read on the history (and problems) of atomic weapons/power

[Abhinuv Pitale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty interesting read, however, the author is overtly pessimistic on the idea of nuclear power, and that's a bit disappointing. However, it does capture various near misses and some actual accidents pretty well, and has diverse set of narratives where processes/policy/people could go wrong!

[Cassie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engaging and informative

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating, but scary reading.

[Rolin · Rating 4 out of 5]

well-written and clear. could have used a couple more pages analyzing all these follies together in a broader theory

[Mark Berger · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bikini, Hiroshima, Harrisburg, Tschernobyl, Fukushima – die Geschichte der Nuklerartechnologie spart nicht an großen Katastrophen. In seinem Buch „Der verstrahlte Westernheld“ gräbt Rudolph Herzog statt dessen die weniger bekannten Fakten aus. Doch die bergen so viel Irrwitz, Naivität und Skrupellosigkeit, dass dem Leser erst recht Angst und Bange werden muss.

Eine Kostprobe? 1954 spielte John Wayne in dem vollkommen zurecht vergessenen Sandalen-Schinken „The Conquerer“ den Mongolenkrieger Dschingis Khan. Was außer dem Produzenten Howard Hughes und seinem Regisseur Dick Powell niemand wusste: Der Drehort, ein Wüstencanyon im südwestlichen Utah, war durch nuklearem Fallout kontaminiert. Ein Jahr zuvor hatte das Militär hier eine der “schmutzigsten” atmosphärischen Bomben aller Zeiten gezündet. Wochenlang stapften Schauspieler und Crew durch verstrahlten Wüstensand, den 1.000 Pferde und riesige Windmaschinen noch zusätzlich aufwirbelten. Ein Blick in die Krankenakte spricht Bände. Der Regisseur starb 1963 – an Krebs, die Hauptdarstellerin Susan Hayward 1975 – an Krebs. John Wayne hielt bis 1979 durch, dann starb er an… genau. Zufall? Vielleicht. Aber von den 220 Mitgliedern des Filmteams ereilte 91 dieses Schicksal – drei Mal mehr, als statistisch zu erwarten.

Bei aller Tragik für die Betroffenen ist das aber aus globaler Perspektive noch relativ harmlos. Wie sähe die Erde heute aus, wenn Edward Teller, der Erfinder der Wasserstoffbombe, tatsächlich seinen Plan umgesetzt hätte, mit 300 Atomexplosionen einen zweiten Panamakanal zu sprengen? Immerhin gab der US-Kongress in den sechziger Jahren 17,5 Millionen Dollar für eine Machbarkeitsstudie aus. Ähnliche Pläne gab es in Ägypten. Die UdSSR erschloss Trinkwasserquellen mit Hilfe atomarer Sprengungen – zur Freude der Anwohner, die in den Kratern badeten. Allein im Kalten Krieg gingen 40 bis 50 Atombomben einfach verloren und sind nie wieder aufgetaucht. Die Liste des Irrsinns ließe sich noch beliebig verlängern.

In Anbetracht der zerplatzen Träume von atombetriebenen Flugzeugen, Autos und sogar Herzschrittmachern erscheinen auch viele aktuelle Heilsversprechen in einem ganz anderen Licht. Schon heute sitzen wir auf einem Berg von atomaren Müll, der noch Jahrtausende strahlen wird. Welche weiteren Kapitel wir dem Zeitalter der atomaren Unvernunft noch hinzufügen werden, steht noch in den Sternen, warnt Rudolph Herzog.

http://www.wortsee.com/

[Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This being the short history, can I have the extended cut now?

As far as the writing is concerned, I found it verged on sensationalist while attempting to maintain a modicum of objectivity, which comes in part from not necessarily knowing what are the sources of information and in part from the nature of the topic where so much of the information remains not just classified but top secret. I do wish he could have gone more in depth with some of the stories, given more of an overall picture instead of oftentimes summarizing with one word or name an entire subsection of historical fact that is assumed "widely known" but inevitably leaves out some of the context of the particular incident. I'm tempted to go through his works cited and pick out other books for more background, because I find Cold War hysteria and nuclear holocaust endlessly fascinating and terrifying (I mean, I love post-apocalyptic and Soviet-era scifi, this book was gold when it caught my eye at Strand). But for as light as it was, it offers a decent eye-opening look at the rampant misuse of nuclear weaponry and radioactive materials that both made me audibly laugh and shake my head in horror.

[Bob Schnell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am tempted to file this one under "true crime" but will simply opt for non-fiction. This book (an advance reader copy) gives us a brief history of nuclear science and its various uses and misuses since WWII. From willful government experiments on unsuspecting military personnel and civilians to lost bombs and untracked nuclear materials, the stories here highlight the foolishness of trying to control nuclear reactions for constructive purposes. It is probably a good thing that the author chose to make this a short history as too many more stories of rampant radioactive contamination of air, land and water would probably have made me ill from over-exposure. Perhaps the point is to raise ire and awareness to keep us vigilant against further proliferation, but since the book is misssing a really good epilogue it is hard to tell.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great little history of some of the terrible things Americans and Russians (and a couple other countries) have done since putting together the first atomic bombs.

I like books like this: There is no pretense of being complete or telling the whole story, and I dont have to give up 15% into a 500 page book. I do come away with several moments I will remember and be able to bring up in polite conversation when the topic turns towards our buddy, the atom.

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you liked this book, I recommend Eric Schlosser's "Command and control: nuclear weapons, the Damascus accident, and the illusion of safety" (Penguin, 2013).

Mr. Schlosser's book is excellent, and succeeds in being far more thorough, investigative, and engaging than Mr. Herzog's book. Still, "A short history of nuclear folly" covers some ground that are outside the scope of Mr. Schlosser's book.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting book. You actually learn that in the 50s and 60s there were some really odd, and concerning potential uses for nuclear bombs. Some people wanted to use them to make canals and other things "faster and cheaper" than they used to. Of course, the people that wanted to do this weren't concerned you couldn't use the land for a few years thereafter because of the radiation.

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was fantastic because it was a quick (but very interesting) read about nuclear decisions that could have become disasters, terrible uses of nuclear technology, and poorly planned projects. There is some scientific and technical language, but it was very easy to understand and helps further the impact and the reader's understanding of those sections.

[Rebecca Gleason · Rating 5 out of 5]

I consider my self to be very well educated on industrial disasters, nuclear in particular, but this book taught me incidents I didn't already know - mostly military, as well as many of the CRAZY ideas some scientists and governments thought you could use nuclear weaponry for in peace time. Great, fast read.

[Becca Ehling · Rating 5 out of 5]

An enlightening look at just how stupid humans can be when honking about nuclear weapons and power

[André · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eine grundsätzlich sehr spannende Sammlung von kleinen und großen Irrsinnsgeschichten aus der Zeit der Atomeuphorie. Gerade die ersten Kapitel sind spannend und gut erzählt - ab etwa der Hälfte lässt die Qualität allerdings leider etwas nach, und das Ende wirkt geradezu eilig hingeschrieben.

[Emma S · Rating 4 out of 5]

Atomic Accidents is better, but this one is okay. There's a lot of overlap between Atomic Accidents and this book, but Atomic Accidents did not cover British nuclear testing in Australia while this book did. Enjoyable and a quick read.

[Noah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of fascinating historical chunks about the events and the what-ifs of the nuclear age. The author doesn't make much of an effort to piece it altogether into a single, readable piece, but the disjointed parts are compelling enough to make up for it.

[Bridget · Rating 3 out of 5]

2015 Reading Challenge- Book Published by an Indie Press

I sure am glad I didn't live during the Cold War.

[Felicity Fozard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining (and slightly disturbing) overview of the development of nuclear power and weapons.