Doomsday Men: The Real Dr Strangelove and the Dream of the Superweapon

by P.D. Smith

This is the gripping, untold story of the doomsday bomb—the ultimate weapon of mass destruction.

"Smith's dynamic, riveting narrative reveals details of people, places and events that are rarely covered in textbooks, bringing to life not just scientists like Robert Oppenheimer and Leo Szilard, but the horrors of chemical and atomic warfare." —Publishers Weekly

It was the weapon to end all -- the doomsday device. A huge nuclear bomb so powerful that it could envelop the entire planet in a cloud of radioactive dust, and bring about instant extinction.

This is the untold story of the Cold War’s most insane plan, the men behind it and how it nearly happened. It is also the history of humanity’s nightmare vision of a superweapon, showing how popular culture, from the stories of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne to films such as Planet of the Apes, Mad Max and Dr. Strangelove itself have both shaped and reflected our darkest dreams.

ebook

Published September 25, 2008

About the author

P.D. Smith is an independent researcher and writer. His most recent book is City: A Guidebook to the Urban Age, published by Bloomsbury in 2012. His previous book, Doomsday Men: The Real Dr Strangelove and the Dream of the Superweapon (2007, Penguin), was described by the Daily Telegraph as "chilling" and "irresistible".

He regularly reviews non-fiction books for the Guardian, and has also written for the Independent, the Financial Times and the Times Literary Supplement. His interests include genre fiction, cities, the life of Einstein and the way science is explored in literature.