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Nuclear War  By  cover art

Nuclear War

By: Annie Jacobsen
Narrated by: Annie Jacobsen
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Publisher's summary

The INSTANT New York Times bestseller

Instant Los Angeles Times bestseller

“In Nuclear War: A Scenario, Annie Jacobsen gives us a vivid picture of what could happen if our nuclear guardians fail…Terrifying.”—Wall Street Journal

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 one of the triggers for that war would be a nuclear missile inbound toward the United States.

Every generation, a journalist has looked deep into the heart of the nuclear military establishment: the technologies, the safeguards, the plans, and the risks. These investigations are vital to how we understand the world we really live in—where one nuclear missile will beget one in return, and where the choreography of the world’s end requires massive decisions made on seconds’ notice with information that is only as good as the intelligence we have.

Pulitzer Prize finalist Annie Jacobsen’s Nuclear War: A Scenario explores this ticking-clock scenario, based on dozens of exclusive new interviews with military and civilian experts who have built the weapons, have been privy to the response plans, and have been responsible for those decisions should they have needed to be made. Nuclear War: A Scenario examines the handful of minutes after a nuclear missile launch. It is essential listening, and unlike any other book in its depth and urgency.

©2024 Penguin Audio (P)2024 Annie Jacobsen
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

Critic reviews

“Gripping . . . essential if you want to understand the complex and disturbing details that go into a civilization-destroying decision to drop the Bomb on an enemy. . . . Jacobsen has done her homework. She has spent more than a decade interviewing dozens of experts while mastering the voluminous literature on the subject, some of it declassified only in recent years.” — New York Times Book Review


“Timeless, masterful. . .A stomach-clenching, multi-perspective, ticking-clock, geopolitical thriller. Jacobsen expertly delivers a madman’s portrait of Armageddon, one made all the more impactful by the thought that it could literally occur at any moment. Almost novel-like in its presentation, Nuclear War: A Scenario represents the equivalent of an existential gut punch, a sickening and necessary reminder of how fragile every 21st century convenience becomes in the face of a blinding flash of light and near-instantaneous shockwave. Exhaustively researched and featuring interviews with professionals who truly understand just how close we continue to creep toward thermonuclear annihilation Nuclear War: A Scenario should be required reading for everyone alive today, especially for the politicians and policymakers who literally hold the precarious fate of our species in their hands.” — Forbes

Nuclear War sketches out a global nuclear war with by-the-minute precision for all of the 72 minutes between the first missile launch and the end of the world. . . . the scenario is constructed from dozens of interviews and documentation, some of it newly declassified, as a factual grounding to describe what could happen.” — Politico

“An urgent warning guaranteed to cause nightmares.” — Kirkus Reviews

"Based on hundreds of interviews with many retired security officials and more-or-less declassified information in the public domain, what it captures brilliantly is the emotional chaos into which leaders would be plunged in such a situation. . . . These are scenes straight out of Dr Strangelove." — Telegraph

What listeners say about Nuclear War

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Wow

I did not plan on finishing this book within 24 hours, but it is a testament to the relentless pace of this narrative, that makes it so gripping, I physically could not stop. That narrative pace is clearly intentional, because it drives to prove that the quickness at which the entire earth could be destroyed is so minuscule on a timescale, it is the heart of the absurdity of nuclear weapons and nuclear war in general. As a longtime Annie Jacobson reader I loved this work because it felt like a combination of all previous works, put into one searing, powerful statement: nuclear weapons are insane. Highly recommend this book if you have an entire day to sit with it on interrupted because it feels like putting it down is impossible.

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OMG

No one listening to this scenario would not (or should not) come away without being profoundly shaken up. I kept thinking at some point there would be a break, some turning point, offering a way out of Armageddon. There is no such suggestion and rightly so. Nuclear war IS madness. If you doubt the potential for such a scenario as this to happen, reach back to how WW I began. It is all too real.

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Chilling but meed today

a thorough, well researched account of the science, technology, politics and social aspects all rolled into one. No one wins in a nuclear war. The book is thought provoking in nightmarish. look at the effects of nuclear war. it shows how vulnerable we are today. I wish a lot of people would read this. very good job.

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Glued to my AirPods

Wow. Illuminating. Very difficult to stop listening to this. She does an incredible job of illustrating a potential self-inflicted, world ending scenario. Very well researched and all scenarios and turns in the storyline have precedence that she describes.

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Scary and interesting at the same time.

This book is really well detailed. Sometimes scary detailed. It tells you that it takes only one mad man to start Nuclear Armageddon.

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The horrific reality of the world we live in.

Wonderful book. Very well written and narrated. Horrifying subject matter. Everyone should listen to this book.

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A book all people should read

I was enthralled after listening to an interview with the author on Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History: Addendum and this book didn’t disappoint. Narrated by the author herself, Nuclear War is a total page turner that foretells what is arguably the most probable end to civilization and perhaps humanity by walking the listener through a play-by-play account of the steps of nuclear Armageddon. With modern CGI, this book would make a jaw dropping movie and should be made before it’s too late.

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Sobering story

The book is excellent and while everyone likely knows that nuclear war would be catastrophic, the details and ways that things might go that are outlined in this well researched book are both fascinating and terrifying.

The only weakness in the audible version is the painfully bland narration

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Human life in perspective

Sobering version of reality. well done, worth listening to. Doubtful, but hopeful that all our nations leaders will read or listen as well.

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Terrifying

Every dime of our taxes should go to icbm defense research before it is too late.

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