''Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety'' is a 2013 nonfiction book by

Eric Schlosser Eric Matthew Schlosser (born August 17, 1959) is an American journalist and food writer. He is known for his books '' Fast Food Nation'' (2001), '' Reefer Madness'' (2003), and '' Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and ...

about the history of

nuclear weapons A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either nuclear fission, fission (fission or atomic bomb) or a combination of fission and nuclear fusion, fusion reactions (thermonuclear weap ...

systems and accidents involving nuclear weapons in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Incidents Schlosser discusses in the book include the

1980 Damascus Titan missile explosion The Damascus Titan missile explosion (also called the Damascus accident) was a 1980 U.S. nuclear weapons incident involving a Titan II Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM). The incident occurred on September 18–19, 1980, at Missile Comp ...

, the

1966 Palomares B-52 crash The Palomares incident occurred on 17 January 1966, when a United States Air Force Boeing B-52 Stratofortress#Variants, B-52G bomber collided with a Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker, KC-135 tanker during Aerial refueling, mid-air refueling at over th ...

, and the

1961 Goldsboro B-52 crash The 1961 Goldsboro B-52 crash was an accident that occurred near Goldsboro, North Carolina, United States, on 24 January 1961. A Boeing B-52 Stratofortress carrying two 3.8- megaton Mark 39 nuclear bombs broke up in mid-air, dropping its nucle ...

. It was a finalist for the 2014

Pulitzer Prize for History The Pulitzer Prize for History, administered by Columbia University, is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It has been presented since 1917 for a distinguished book about the histor ...

. A documentary film based on the book aired as an episode of ''

American Experience ''American Experience'' is a television program airing on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the United States. The program airs documentaries, many of which have won awards, about important or interesting events and people in American his ...

'' on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

in early 2017.

Critical reception

A review in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' described it as a "disquieting but riveting" book and Schlosser as a "better reporter than policy analyst". Speaking of the book, domestic security adviser

Lee H. Hamilton Lee Herbert Hamilton (born April 20, 1931) is an American politician and lawyer from Indiana. He is a former member of the United States House of Representatives and a former member of the U.S. Homeland Security Advisory Council. A member of th ...

said, "The lesson of this powerful and disturbing book is that the world's nuclear arsenals are not as safe as they should be. We should take no comfort in our skill and good fortune in preventing a nuclear catastrophe, but urgently extend our maximum effort to assure that a nuclear weapon does not go off by accident, mistake, or miscalculation."

References

External links

*
Interview with Schlosser on ''Command and Control''
September 27, 2013, ''

After Words ''After Words'' is an American television series on the C-SPAN2 network's weekend programming schedule known as '' Book TV''. The program is an hour-long talk show, each week featuring an interview with the author of a new nonfiction book. T ...

'',

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American Cable television in the United States, cable and Satellite television in the United States, satellite television network, created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a Non ...

Critical reception

References

External links

See also