Summary of Annie Jacobsen’s Nuclear War

By IRB Media

Get the Summary of Annie Jacobsen’s Nuclear War in 20 minutes. Please note: This is a summary & not the original book. What would happen if a nuclear missile was launched toward the United States? In Nuclear War (2024), Pulitzer Prize finalist Annie Jacobsen presents a harrowing scenario where one nuclear missile triggers a full-scale nuclear war that destroys the world as we know it in a matter of hours. She delves into the history of nuclear weapons, their immediate aftermath, and the long-term ecological and societal impacts...

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: May 8, 2024
• ISBN: 9798330010745

IRB Media

With IRB books, you can get the key takeaways and analysis of a book in 15 minutes. We read every chapter, identify the key takeaways and analyze them for your convenience.

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Summary of Annie Jacobsen’s Nuclear War

Contents

Overview

Inferno

How We Got Here

Raising the Alarm

The President’s Dilemma

Counterstrike

#EndOfTheWorld

Escalation

North Korean Targets

Apocalypse Unleashed

Annihilation

Stone Age Redux

About the Author

Overview

What would happen if a nuclear missile was launched toward the United States? In Nuclear War (2024), Pulitzer Prize finalist Annie Jacobsen presents a harrowing scenario where one nuclear missile triggers a full-scale nuclear war that destroys the world as we know it in a matter of hours. She delves into the history of nuclear weapons, their immediate aftermath, and the long-term ecological and societal impacts. Jacobsen issues a stark warning, focusing on the existential threat posed by nuclear weapons and the urgent need for disarmament and peace.

Inferno

A 1-megaton nuclear bomb strikes outside Washington, DC, with a blinding flash. The explosion vaporizes the Pentagon, killing all 27,000 employees, and nothing survives at ground zero. The heat wave ignites flammable materials for miles. The massive firestorm engulfs the heart of American governance and affects 6 million people.

Two and a half miles away, most of the 35,000 people at the Washington Nationals baseball game catch fire or suffer severe burns. Only a few thousand burn beds are available nationwide, and local facilities are incapacitated or destroyed. The bomb’s thermal radiation burns a million more people, with most unable to survive. Military and educational facilities near the Pentagon, including the Defense Intelligence Agency and National Defense University, are obliterated.

The fireball rises, forming a mushroom cloud, and a reverse suction effect pulls objects back into the inferno. Radioactive fallout spreads. Within minutes, more than a million people are dead or dying. Gas lines and chemical factories explode and people are trapped in burning buildings. Farther from ground zero, hurricane-force