The dead hand : the untold story of the Cold War arms race and its dangerous legacy

Resource Information

The work The dead hand : the untold story of the Cold War arms race and its dangerous legacy represents a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in Williamsburg Regional Library. This resource is a combination of several types including: Work, Language Material, Books.

Label

The dead hand : the untold story of the Cold War arms race and its dangerous legacy

Title remainder

the untold story of the Cold War arms race and its dangerous legacy

Statement of responsibility

David E. Hoffman

Creator

• Hoffman, David E., (David Emanuel)

Subject

• Arms race -- History -- 20th century
• Cold War
• Cold War -- Influence
• trueEast-West relations
• Gorbachev, Mikhail Sergeevich, 1931- -- Political and social views
• trueMissile defenses -- United States -- History
• Nuclear disarmament -- History -- 20th century
• United States -- Foreign relations -- Soviet Union
• United States -- History -- 20th century
• trueWeapons of mass destruction
• Nuclear warfare
• Reagan, Ronald -- Political and social views
• Soviet Union -- Foreign relations -- United States

Language

eng

Summary

During the Cold War, superpowers amassed nuclear arsenals containing the explosive power of one million Hiroshimas. The Soviet Union secretly plotted to create the "Dead Hand," a system designed to launch an automatic retaliatory nuclear strike on the United States, and developed a fearsome biological warfare machine. President Ronald Reagan, hoping to awe the Soviets into submission, pushed hard for the creation of space-based missile defenses. This, the first full account of how the arms race finally ended, provides an unprecedented look at the inner motives and secret decisions of each side. Drawing on top-secret documents from deep inside the Kremlin, memoirs, and interviews in both Russia and the United States, David Hoffman introduces the scientists, soldiers, diplomats, and spies who saw the world sliding toward disaster and tells the gripping story of how Reagan, Gorbachev, and many others struggled to bring the madness to an end.--From publisher description

Awards note

Pulitzer Prize 2010 (nonfiction by an American author that is not eligible for consideration in any other category)

Biography type

contains biographical information

Cataloging source

DLC

Dewey number

909.82/5

Illustrations

• illustrations
• maps

Index

index present

LC call number

U264

LC item number

.H645 2009

Literary form

non fiction

Nature of contents

bibliography

Target audience

adult