March to Armageddon: The United States and the Nuclear Arms Race, 1939 to the Present

By Ronald E. Powaski

Book Overview

Ronald E. Powaski offers the first complete, accessible history of the events, forces, and factors that have brought the world to the brink of a nuclear holocaust. He traces the evolution of the nuclear arms race from FDR's decision to develop an atomic bomb to Reagan's decision to continue its expansion in the 1980's.
Focusing on the forces that have propelled the arms race and the reasons behind the repeated failures to check the proliferation of nuclear weapons, Powaski discusses such topics as the Manhattan Project, the decision to drop the bomb on Hiroshima, the debate over whether to share atomic information, the effect of nuclear weapons on U.S. military and foreign policy, and the role of these weapons in arms control negotiations in the last five presidential administrations.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195044118
• ISBN13: 9780195044119
• Release Date: May 1989
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Length: 318 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.6" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

An eye opener.

Mr. Powaski does a complete and thorough job of explaining the Nuclear Arms Race. This book is backed by meticulous research, as it uncovers facts and information that even a student of foreign relations may not be aware of. For example, most people have always understood that President Truman made the decision to drop the Atomic Bomb on Japan, when in fact Truman did not even know of the bomb's existence until the day that he became President in 1944 (the bomb was already in the works by 1941). The decision to drop the bomb was already made by the State Department before Truman had a say. This book will prove to be essential in any study of American diplomacy. One would be wise to consider what Powaski has to say in March To Armageddon.