The Fate of the Earth and The Abolition (Stanford Nuclear Age Series)

I first read the Fate of the Earth as installments in the New Yorker years ago. I remember it as much as anything I ever read. Those installments have been combined into the first part of this book. It describes what would happen during and after a nuclear war. The destruction that would happen during a nuclear war is fairly well known and is horrific. The aftermath is more speculative but no less horrific. The book clearly spells out the risk of a nuclear war causing an extinction event comparable to the asteroid impact that killed the dinosaurs and 75% of all species 66 million years ago.Unfortunately, reading it is a slog--hence the deduction of one star--but not because of the horrors it describes. It is filled with elegantly written statements that are both true and meaningless and add nothing. A good example is a quote in another review about how we can only imagine how future generations would feel if they never exist because mankind is exterminated in nuclear war and its aftermath. Schell encourages thinking deeply about our moral obligation to future generations as a way to eventually disarm. He is certainly correct about our moral obligation, but it is unlikely the world will disarm because of it. Such statements are repeated many times. So are constant repeated qualifications that predicting the aftermath is uncertain for lack of experience and the many variables such as how many bombs are detonated. It would work fine to say that once then say here is what could happen.The book offers no realistic solution to this existential threat, probably because there is no solution other than a mere hope it will never happen. As long as another nation has nuclear weapons we must have them too as a deterrent.But in the end, the description of a nuclear holocaust has helped reduce the inclination to consider "limited nuclear war" a survivable and workable option. Ronald Reagan changed his views dramatically after watching a TV show depicting a post nuclear world. The descriptions in this book should be read by everyone. Knowing in detail what nuclear holocaust means may be the best thing we can do to avoid it ever happening.

Just received this book the other day and have read about 70 pages It is excellentI shutter to think that the Imbecile Trump will assume control over 50,000 plus thermonuclear weapons on January, 20 2017 This is a book every American should read, especially 47,000,000 stumps who.voted for him.I pray we are all still alive by July 4th 2017, and incinerated by a nuclear holocaust because of the diplomatic missteps of this blustering, bungling idiotBTW, the author notes that a single 1 megaton hydrogen bomb is 80 times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped onHiroshima, Japan August 6 1945. Also, Russian missiles can deliver mutable warheads in one payload which means that New York City could be struck by several 1 megaton hydrogen bombs in a first strike attack. The aftermath according to Schell would be a scenario whose horror and destruction goes beyond human imagination.

The plot summary for this book has already been explained by other reviewers, so I won't bother with that here. This book was required for a seminar I took in college about nuclear proliferation. Despite several presentations by professors studying nuclear proliferation, this book produced the most conversation (and an intelligent one, at that) surrounding the topic.While a great read, this book is rather depressing. It paints a rather bleak picture about humanity and outlines how simple it would be for humanity to be annihilated. I knocked off one star not for this reason, but simply because the book was not mind-blowing - it was great, but not fantastic.

This weighty and closely reasoned book is considered to have changed history.If you are interested in understanding how the humans manage to avoid blowing themselves up (so far) this is an important source document.The NYT said in 1982 that is should be reviewed as an "event of profound historical moment rather than as a book".If you are interested in how history can be changed by a book read this.

The author is clearly a fanatic on nuclear disarmament (and the idea that the arms race was always mostly our fault). That said, there is still a good deal of solid scientific information here on the nature of nuclear weapons. One has to take some of the author's projections with a grain of salt later on as he tends to go beyond the facts to scare the reader, however.

I first heard about this book in a 1986 quote, but was never able to actually read it. The author's thoughts and arguments are still absolutely valid, as humankind is capable of turning the planet into a "republic of insects and grass" as much today than when originaly published. Read it: it's worth it.

This is an old work but, in my opinion, timeless in providing a uniquely comprehensive perspective with regard to the consequences of nuclear holocaust. In particular, a decision to annihilate ourselves is equally a decision to annihilate future generations.

In Depth analysis of nuclear weapons, the posososibyt of nuclear war and how we must get rid of them before we use them and thereby get rid of us.

A very thoughtful and profound publication - it should be compulsory reading for anyone contemplating a career as a politician. Thanks