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Doomsday Men: The Real Dr Strangelove and the Dream of the Superweapon
 
 
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Doomsday Men: The Real Dr Strangelove and the Dream of the Superweapon (Hardcover)

by P D Smith (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
RRP: £20.00
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Product details

  • Hardcover: 576 pages
  • Publisher: Allen Lane; First Edition edition (31 May 2007)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0713998156
  • ISBN-13: 978-0713998153
  • Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 15.8 x 5 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 304,675 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #60 in  Books > History > Military History > Weapons & Warfare > Nuclear

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Product Description

The Church Times, 23 November 2007

"The narrative is gripping and morally astute... at times, it becomes a cross between Bill Bryson and Umberto Eco"


InTheNews.co.uk, June 13, 2007

"academic, entertaining, informing, thought-provoking...8/10"
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Doomsday Men: The Real Dr Strangelove and the Dream of the Superweapon
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Customer Reviews

4 Reviews
5 star:
 (2)
4 star:    (0)
3 star:
 (2)
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Average Customer Review
4.0 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Book!, 17 Aug 2007
By S. A. Lindsay "Eberdeen" (Aberdeen) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
I bought this on a bit of a whim after reading the blurb on the back. I am so glad I did as it is an amazing book which charts the history of the nuclear bomb from the very first inceptions back with Marie Curie all the way through to the present day. The twist is that this is a sort of history book which also looks at the effect these weapons have had on the psyche of the populous over the years through the mediums of Science Fiction and normal media as well. As a child of the 70s/80s who thought that the world would end I found this book amazing!
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars An important book for our times, 13 Sep 2007
Doomsday Men offers a sobering look at the cultural, political and scientific factors influencing the development of superweapons in the 20th century. Smith brilliantly shows how the literary creations of H. G. Wells and others, in works such a "The World Set Free," inspired nuclear scientists to pursue the development of weapons so utterly destructive that they were meant never to be be used. Yet they were, twice, in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, much to the horror of scientists such as Szilard and Einstein who advocated the development of atomic bombs only for preventing the Nazis from gaining a monopoly on the dreadful secret. Instead of the utopias imagined by Wells and the world government advocated by Einstein, the world launched into a sinister Cold War and a continued arms race, which has led, even until the present, to a diversion of needed resources into the development and maintenance of expensive and horrifically lethal armaments. Smith's book is a meticulously researched tour-de-force that offers readers an important glimpse into the rationale behind the creation of the world's nuclear arsenal, as well as a splendid examination of how culture and science interact. All in all, a highly worthwhile read.
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2 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Informatove but flawed, 8 Oct 2007
By K. Mitchell "International playboy-in-training" (Central Scotland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Bought this as I have a real interest in science and the cold war, but most of the book appears to be a biography of Leo Szilard interspersed with synopses of phrophetic science-fiction books. Undoubtedly Mr Szilard is one of the key figures, but using him as the centrepiece of the book rather changes the focus and gets it a little bogged down in the minutiae of his life where it could be ranging over other parts of the subject. It's still got a lot of information in it that I had not encountered before, but it should have been called Doomsday Man: The life of Leo Szilard. A bit disappointing in the end.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars So nearly brilliant
A great story, well told, BUT....

PD Smith seems to be obsessed with science fiction, and page after page is wasted on banging on about what science fiction was... Read more
Published on 28 Aug 2007 by Mr. Rowan Gormley

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