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My Journey at the Nuclear Brink
- Narrated by: Kevin F Spalding
- Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins
- Categories: Biographies & Memoirs, Politics & Activism
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Publisher's Summary
My Journey at the Nuclear Brink is a continuation of William J. Perry's efforts to keep the world safe from a nuclear catastrophe. It tells the story of his coming of age in the nuclear era, his role in trying to shape and contain it, and how his thinking has changed about the threat these weapons pose. In a remarkable career, Perry has dealt firsthand with the changing nuclear threat. Decades of experience and special access to top-secret knowledge of strategic nuclear options have given Perry a unique, and chilling, vantage point from which to conclude that nuclear weapons endanger our security rather than securing it. This book traces his thought process as he journeys from the Cuban Missile Crisis, to crafting a defense strategy in the Carter Administration to offset the Soviets' numeric superiority in conventional forces, to presiding over the dismantling of more than 8,000 nuclear weapons in the Clinton Administration, and to his creation in 2007, with George Shultz, Sam Nunn, and Henry Kissinger, of the Nuclear Security Project to articulate their vision of a world free from nuclear weapons and to lay out the urgent steps needed to reduce nuclear dangers.
The book is published by Stanford University Press.
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What listeners say about My Journey at the Nuclear Brink
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- Amazon Customer
- 04-18-17
His journey has just begun
Read this book and join him. He is wise, has integrity, and a vision we can live with (but not without)
1 person found this helpful
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- James
- 08-10-20
Great Man Great Book
Last week was the 75th anniversary of the Hiroshima Nuclear Bombing. A day of solemn remembrance in Japan. A day that passed largely without comment here in the United States.
William Perry was there in Hiroshima as a member of the US Military to survey firsthand the aftermath of nuclear devastation. He went on to distinguish himself as a scientist working on Russian nuclear capability surveillance. He was personally summoned to Washington as a scientist to offer his expert input during the Russian Missile Crisis, (Bay of Pigs). He later served as Undersecretary, then Secretary of Defense. My impression is that he was always a scientist, never a politician. He continues to teach at Stanford and work toward nuclear non- proliferation. Nuclear War is as much, if not more, of a threat now than it was in the 1960's when Kennedy was encouraging citizens to construct nuclear fallout shelters at home. The book is something of a biography, something of a warning, and a reminder that world destruction is only minutes away at any time. We are able to carry on with our daily lives by not thinking about it. William Perry reminds us that we should. We should think about it, we should talk about it, we should act. We have to find a way to live in Peace if we are to live at all. As a Nation, I think we missed an important opportunity last week to talk about the horror of nuclear War.
If you are looking for something engaging and thought provoking, if not shocking at times, take advantage of this rare insight into the life of a great man and the issues he has devoted his life to.
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- Harrison H.
- 06-21-20
Important work
This subject is of the greatest importance. This book is an extremely informative insider’s look at the existential crisis posed by nuclear weapons. I’m very grateful for William Perry’s open candor sharing his perspective on this grave topic—an important contribution to the endeavor of nuclear abolition!
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- Kevin Roberts
- 12-19-16
An Amazing Story
From a time in our nation's past to the modern day challenges that we face, this story covered all from a writer who had the opportunity to experience it all first hand!
The performance and the story kept me engaged and entertained!
Well worth the listen!
1 person found this helpful
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- Kindle Customer
- 11-20-16
Engrossing and Educational!!
From the very first page until the final one...exciting! My first time reading William Perry's writting but will not be the last. Looking forward to following this Author .l love his character...Very enlightening. International Educating.. Just listen and enjoy.
I received a free copy of this book and voluntarily decided to review."
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- Daman
- 12-13-16
Intriguing and Fascinating
If you could sum up My Journey at the Nuclear Brink in three words, what would they be?
Eye-Opening, Interesting, Educational
What does Kevin F Spalding bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
Good strong narration with a good voice.
Any additional comments?
"This review copy audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost."
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- Thermonuclear
- 03-24-20
If you have misophonia read this review!
I havent quite finished this book yet. 2 hours to go. but I had to get this out to people. The content of this book is very good. Very insightful and gives some great details of major happenings concerning nuclear weapons and or war. Possibly a little self serving, but this is obviously a great man so there you go.
Let's get to the issues with this Audiobook. I am not criticising the narrator at all, but giving people with misophonia a very honest heads up prior to buying this title. Misophonia is simply where certain sounds etc. trigger emotional responses in someone.
The narrator has a speech impediment that leads to a lisp. You can hear his tongue move in his mouth into the wrong positions, which causes the lisp, and also causes 'p' and 't' to almost click when spoken. I was at the point of tearing my hair out of head. It made me anxious, very frustrated, and at times, even angry. Its not his fault but it's there that he hasn't ever developed the correct use of his tongue to speak and the sounds produced are something that I struggle with for some reason via my misophonia. I am really having to push myself to finish and it's almost painful for me. Imagine Toyah Wilcox but not quite as harsh maybe. I recommend to anyone who has problems like I do with speech impediments or types of speech, to listen to the preview, unlike I did. I would rather have read the text version and probably would have gotten more out of the content at times.