Megaton Mornings

by Charles Hall

It is 1962 and the year of nuclear weapons testing on Christmas Island in the Pacific. Charles Hall tells the true story of twenty-five early morning tests. He knew what really happened. He was there!

223 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[Jemma · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is interesting and an easy read but misses out on telling a much more fascinating tale. Essentially we have life as a soldier during some of the nuclear tests, which is a relatively unexplored topic so worth doing. Who would've thought that you could actually become sanguine, if not downright bored, with such earthshattering explosions. Yet it turns out that yes, even in this case, familiarity really does breed contempt.

Sadly, this account is let down by the admission early on that some of it had been changed to improve the story. This means that you never quite know what is true or not. Although kudos for admitting this, it lets the work down as a testament of something truly unpleasant.

Secondly, this book doesn't follow what happens to the soldiers after the tests, apart from a brief reprise in Scotland. The consequences are surely pertinent to this tale and their omission means we get repetitions of soldiers hi-jinks which just becomes wearing in the end.