Nuclear War: A Scenario by
Annie Jacobsen (2024) 373pp.
Drop what you are doing and web surf to FEMA.GOV and read “Nuclear
Detonation Response Guidance Planning for the First 72 Hours” the 105 page guide
on what to do in the situation described in Jacobson’s book. You probably won’t
survive, but you will be among those who know what to expect when the bombs fall.
This is a bleak read, but I couldn’t put it down (until it was ripped from my
hands by the 300 mph blast winds!). Tales of dystopia based on nuclear conflagration
are rife, but this takes a bit of a different tack, a second-by-second, play-by-play
of the end of the world. The book takes the reader from the moment of launch of
a nuclear missile, the impact and the retaliation. Is it possible to get grimmer?
Yes, not only do cities get annihilated, every country with a nuke sees a rationale
to launch them. Not a win-win, unless you are a cockroach. No spoilers here –
the usual suspects are involved – and there is a macabre beginning, middle and end.
Jacobsen uses her journalism skills, including extensive notes and a generous bibliography
to bolster her “Scenario” and she includes highlighted “History Lessons” sidebars
to help the reader with putting the unthinkable in context. Jacobsen has
written a graphic novel without graphics – speeding along like a Grisham novel,
but again, with no happy ending.
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