Danger and Survival: Choices about the Bomb in the First Fifty Years

A book that ... addresses the singlemost important issue of modern times, 'Danger and Survival' is the most comprehensive political history of the nuclear bomb ever written, a major work encompassing the events from the discover of fission in 1938 to the superpower summitry of 1988 ... Beginning with Franklin Roosevelt's lonely decision that the United States must be first in the field and ending with hopeful judgement that our chance of avoiding nuclear catastrophe is better now ... Bundy gives particular attention to the most dangerous confrontations ... Kurshchev's challenges in Berlin and the Cuban Missile crisis. As John F. Kennedy's assistant for national security, he was intensely engaged in both crises ... He reveals new facts ... In addition ... 'Danger and Survival' closely examines those of other states: the forces that have brought nuclear arsenals to Britain, France, China, and Israel ... We gain new understanding of the motives of Charles de Gaulle, Mao Zedong, and David Ben Gurion ... Has it [the bomb] increased their international power and prestige? Have the Japanese and West Germans suffered politically because they lack the bomb? These are among the questions Bundy explores ... After reviewing the absence of great crices in recent years ... Bundy concludes that this fifty-year history gives reason to believe that with courage and prudence we can continue to reduce nuclear danger, step by step ...