Secret Weapons of the Cold War: From the H-Bomb to SDI

by Bill Yenne

A military expert presents a fascinating foray into the sophisticated weaponry that could have brought about the destruction of the world during the Cold War, from truly strange and extraordinary inventions to highly classified Doomsday weapons. Original.

335 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Bill Yenne is the author of several novels and over three dozen books on historical topics. He has also been a contributor to encyclopedias of both world wars.

The New Yorker wrote of Sitting Bull, his biography of the great Lakota leader, that it "excels as a study in leadership." This book was named to the number 14 spot among Amazon's 100 Best Books of the Year.

Library Journal observed that "enthusiastic World War II readers will be drawn to" his dual biography, Aces High: The Heroic Story of the Two Top Scoring American Aces of World War II.

Recently, his book Convair Deltas was named as Book of the Month by Air Classics, while his book Tommy Gun was named Pick of the Month by Shooting Illustrated.

His book Guinness: The 250 Year Quest for the Perfect Pint was listed among the top business books of the year by Cond Nast Portfolio Magazine, which rated Yenne's tome as its TOP pick for "Cocktail Conversation."

Yenne's Rising Sons: The Japanese American GIs Who Fought for the United States in World War II, was praised by Walter Boyne, former Director of the National Air & Space Museum, who called it "a fast moving... page turner," and the "best book yet written on the saga."

The Wall Street Journal wrote, when reviewing his Indian Wars: The Campaign for the American West, that Yenne writes with "cinematic vividness," and says of his work that it "has the rare quality of being both an excellent reference work and a pleasure to read."

The author lives in San Francisco, California, and on the web at www.BillYenne.com

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Reviews

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I have written before I love history books and especially books on the military. This books was a great read in the trivia history of the military sign of the Cold War when it came to weapons programs, what worked and what did not, where thought processes were going about how the future of warfare would look like. While not all inclusive the book did cover the big stuff, the game changers and the bizarre. Each weapon system is given a concise write up cover just a couple of paragraphs to a page or two. Much of the US stuff was already known but it was fun to read some of the details. The really interesting part, at least for me, was the stuff from the Soviet Union. These side by side comparisons create an interesting timeline.

I highly recommend this book for any history buff.