"Essential reading, and a marvellous book." —
Peter Frankopan
From the bestselling author of Chernobyl comes a
sweeping history of the geopolitics behind the nuclear arms race—from the first
atomic bomb to the modern-day threat.
On July 16, 1945, the Nuclear Age began. While the threat of
mutually assured destruction kept a tense peace during the Cold War, disasters
like Chernobyl and near-misses like the Cuban Missile Crisis proved that total
destruction is only ever one mistake away.
Today, treaties are collapsing, arsenals are being upgraded,
and we stand on the brink of a dangerous new nuclear renaissance. In The
Nuclear Age, acclaimed historian Serhii Plokhy confronts the ultimate
question: What can we learn from the first nuclear arms race to stop the next
one?
Why You’ll Love This Book:
- Expert
Authority: Written by Serhii Plokhy, one of the world’s leading historians
on nuclear history and author of Chernobyl.
- Epic
Scope: Tracks the nuclear story from the first splitting of the atom in
1917, through the Cold War, to today’s modern geopolitical conflicts.
- Urgent
& Relevant: A timely exploration of how close the world remains to
nuclear disaster, and how we can navigate the new arms race.
About The Author
Serhii Plokhy is the author of Chernobyl: History of a Tragedy, which won the Baillie Gifford Prize and the Pushkin House Book Prize, and the New York Times bestseller The Gates of Europe. His many acclaimed books, including The Russo-Ukrainian War, Nuclear Folly and Atoms and Ashes, have been translated into over a dozen languages. He is Professor of History at Harvard University where he also serves as Director of the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute.
About The Author