Command and Control

Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety

By: Eric Schlosser

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 20 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

A myth-shattering exposé of America's nuclear weapons.

Famed investigative journalist Eric Schlosser digs deep to uncover secrets about the management of America's nuclear arsenal. A groundbreaking account of accidents, near misses, extraordinary heroism, and technological breakthroughs, Command and Control explores the dilemma that has existed since the dawn of the nuclear age: How do you deploy weapons of mass destruction without being destroyed by them? That question has never been resolved - and Schlosser reveals how the combination of human fallibility and technological complexity still poses a grave risk to mankind. While the harms of global warming increasingly dominate the news, the equally dangerous yet more immediate threat of nuclear weapons has been largely forgotten.

Written with the vibrancy of a first-rate thriller, Command and Control interweaves the minute-by-minute story of an accident at a nuclear missile silo in rural Arkansas with a historical narrative that spans more than 50 years. It depicts the urgent effort by American scientists, policy makers, and military officers to ensure that nuclear weapons can't be stolen, sabotaged, used without permission, or detonated inadvertently. Schlosser also looks at the Cold War from a new perspective, offering history from the ground up, telling the stories of bomber pilots, missile commanders, maintenance crews, and other ordinary servicemen who risked their lives to avert a nuclear holocaust. At the heart of the book lies the struggle, amid the rolling hills and small farms of Damascus, Arkansas, to prevent the explosion of a ballistic missile carrying the most powerful nuclear warhead ever built by the United States.

Drawing on recently declassified documents and interviews with people who designed and routinely handled nuclear weapons, Command and Control takes readers into a terrifying but fascinating world that, until now, has been largely hidden from view. Through the details of a single accident, Schlosser illustrates how an unlikely event can become unavoidable, how small risks can have terrible consequences, and how the most brilliant minds in the nation can only provide us with an illusion of control. Audacious, gripping, and unforgettable, Command and Control is a tour de force of investigative journalism, an eye-opening look at the dangers of America's nuclear age.

©2013 Eric Schlosser (P)2013 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

A New York Times Notable Book of 2013

"A devastatingly lucid and detailed new history of nuclear weapons in the US...fascinating." (Time magazine)

"Schlosser's book reads like a thriller, but it's masterfully even-handed, well researched, and well organised. Either he's a natural genius at integrating massive amounts of complex information, or he worked like a dog to write this book. You wouldn't think the prospect of nuclear apocalypse would make for a reading treat, but in Schlosser's hands it does." Lev Grossman, Jonathan Franzen, The Guardian)

Great book

Well written and well spoken. One of the last nonfiction books I listened to that was this duration lost my interest. But this kept it all the way through. very good book book.

Amazing listen

This book provides an unparalleled view of the nuclear era from its inception to its hopeful decline in the future. It details technological and managerial facets of the nuclear age that I never knew or suspected. It is a page turner from cover to cover. I strongly recommend it to anyone, especially those of us with an engineering or science background.

difficult time line

Would you listen to Command and Control again? Why?

Maybe ... it is very confusing that the author goes back and forth in time ... back and forth between stories. This might be a book better read than listened to.

Very Interesting Listen

I picked this up as I have some other books along this line that I am reading. This book is a must read if you have ever had any interest in knowing how the system developed, decisions, successes, failures and current risks.

Scott Brick does an amazing job for this book and its style.

The story was good, but one ding. In the middle of the book the examples while important just seemed to over emphasize. There is reason, but just one thought after finishing this one in a couple of days. The facts are interwoven through the story. **Spoiler** Sorta
Ross Perot makes an appearance.. I never knew that about Ross Perot.

Recommended part of cold war history

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I have read/listened to 4 books on the history nuclear power and weapons. My favourite was The Age of Radiance. Second was Command and Control. Third being Dead Hand. The last being American Prometheus.

I would describe Command and Control as a history of the cold war arms race and the inherent difficulty in managing such a darn dangerous type of weapon. I would recommend this book, along with The Age of Radiance and Dead Hand, to anyone who is interested in this period of political history. Command and Control is told as two stories side by side. The first being the events the lead to the explosion of a nuclear armed rocket in its silo. The second being the mismanagement of nuclear armed weapons. I found the first half of the first unnecessary (missile in silo). The second half of the first story was much more interesting. The second story was great the whole way thru.

Hidden history of Nuclear Weapons of the USA.

Found this book riveting. As a former SAC trained killer, I found the history within this book very illuminating. The US history of Nuclear weapons is smoothly wound the Damascus incident. So we'll told that I gave up lots of sleep to finished. must read for anyone who served in SAC or the cold war.

Nuclear Cold War

A complete data rich record of the history of nuclear weapons and the scientists, soldiers, and politicians who've made and managed them over the 50+ years of their lifetime.

Extremely interesting and informative

This book was fascinating. It is a page turner, which is not a descriptive I thought I’d ever use for a history book. If you have any interest in the Cold War, nuclear weapons, politics, or are just looking to broaden your horizons, I highly recommend this book.

Scott Brick is, as usual, excellent.

Overall 10/10.

Greatly researched!

The book was packed full of Cold War mentality and what was expected of those in uniform.

what you thought you knew

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

there way more to the nucleear weapon issuse then we will ever know . i learn a lot of thing i did not know and was amazed how closet we can to wipeing our selfs out