Nuclear War

A Scenario

By: Annie Jacobsen

Narrated by: Annie Jacobsen

The INSTANT New York Times bestseller

Instant Los Angeles Times bestseller

One of NPR's Books We Love

One of Newsweek Staffers' Favorite Books of the Year

Shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize

“In Nuclear War: A Scenario, Annie Jacobsen gives us a vivid picture of what could happen if our nuclear guardians fail…Terrifying.”—Wall Street Journal

There is only one scenario other than an asteroid strike that could end the world as we know it in a matter of hours: nuclear war. And one of the triggers for that war would be a nuclear missile inbound toward the United States.

Every generation, a journalist has looked deep into the heart of the nuclear military establishment: the technologies, the safeguards, the plans, and the risks. These investigations are vital to how we understand the world we really live in—where one nuclear missile will beget one in return, and where the choreography of the world’s end requires massive decisions made on seconds’ notice with information that is only as good as the intelligence we have.

Pulitzer Prize finalist Annie Jacobsen’s Nuclear War: A Scenario explores this ticking-clock scenario, based on dozens of exclusive new interviews with military and civilian experts who have built the weapons, have been privy to the response plans, and have been responsible for those decisions should they have needed to be made. Nuclear War: A Scenario examines the handful of minutes after a nuclear missile launch. It is essential reading, and unlike any other book in its depth and urgency.

©2024 Penguin Audio (P)2024 Annie Jacobsen

Critic reviews

“Gripping . . . essential if you want to understand the complex and disturbing details that go into a civilization-destroying decision to drop the Bomb on an enemy. . . . Jacobsen has done her homework. She has spent more than a decade interviewing dozens of experts while mastering the voluminous literature on the subject, some of it declassified only in recent years.”—New York Times Book Review

“Timeless, masterful. . .A stomach-clenching, multi-perspective, ticking-clock, geopolitical thriller. Jacobsen expertly delivers a madman’s portrait of Armageddon, one made all the more impactful by the thought that it could literally occur at any moment. Almost novel-like in its presentation, Nuclear War: A Scenario represents the equivalent of an existential gut punch, a sickening and necessary reminder of how fragile every 21st century convenience becomes in the face of a blinding flash of light and near-instantaneous shockwave. Exhaustively researched and featuring interviews with professionals who truly understand just how close we continue to creep toward thermonuclear annihilation Nuclear War: A Scenario should be required reading for everyone alive today, especially for the politicians and policymakers who literally hold the precarious fate of our species in their hands.”—Forbes

“At once methodical and vivid. In documenting the minutiae of the apocalypse, the writing is redolent of 'Hiroshima', a seminal article by John Hersey published in the New Yorker in 1946.”—The Economist

Great book, but read waaayyy to slow.

Fascinatingly terrifying. Listen to it at 1.2x speed. She just reads it way too slow.

Apocalyptic

This book, written by Annie Jacobsen (read by Sarah Conner), was amazing. Definitely, add this to your library.
One notion this book disabused me of, was the notion of control. In this scenario, we have no control. No choice but to let the chips (or the buildings and civilizations) fall where they may. But, what do we do in the meantime? How do we live? I’ll answer that with a quote by C.S. Lewis on this very topic.

“In a way, we think a great deal to much of the atomic bomb. ‘How are we to live in an atomic age?’ I am tempted to reply: ‘Why, as you would have lived in the sixteenth century when the plague visited London almost every year, or as you would have lived in a Viking age when raiders from Scandinavia might land and cut your throat any night; or indeed, as you are already living in an age of cancer, an age of syphilis, an age of paralysis, an age of air raids, an age of railway accidents, an age of motor accidents.
In other words, do not let us begin by exaggerating the novelty of our situation. Believe me, dear sir or madam, you and all whom you love were already sentenced to death before the atomic bomb was invented: and quite a high percentage of us were going to die in unpleasant ways. We had, indeed, one very great advantage over our ancestors—anesthetics; but we have that still. It is perfectly ridiculous to go about whimpering and drawing long faces because the scientists have added one more chance of painful and premature death to a world which already bristled with such chances and in which death itself was not a chance at all, but a certainty.
This is the first point to be made: and the first action to be taken is to pull ourselves together. If we are all going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb when it comes find us doing sensible and human things—praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts—not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs. They may break our bodies (a microbe can do that) but they need not dominate our minds.”

We have taken our eye off the ball

Too many of us have forgotten how dangerous the world is today. Yes, there is terrorism. But short of a catastrophic meteor strike, NOTHING will impact the lives of every human more than nuclear war. This isn’t just a book. To me, this is a call to action. It would be way too easy for the scenario described or something similar to happen. Especially when we have world leaders openly threatening nuclear strikes.

Terrifying but plausible

This isn’t a normal “what if” book. It’s loaded with facts and insights from people in the know that make the scenario quite realistic and believable.
A word of caution though…it’s not a book you can “unhear”. It will change your perspective on the future of humanity. That said, if everyone better understood the impacts and consequences of a nuclear exchange and EMP, perhaps we’d live in a safer world.
I thank the author for writing this!

Enthralling & Terrifying. An incredible and important read..

This deeply shook me. 10/10… I had just finished Kaplan’s “The Bomb” which breaks down a chronological history of the bomb Truman-to-Trump(phenomenal book). I saw Annie on Lex Friedman talking about this new work of hers and immediately preordered it. I’m an instant fan. The way she framed this book as a second by second timeline of “unthinkable” events while weaving in historical context and recently declassified technical info makes this a fricken masterpiece.

It’s also more frightening than fiction and defies genre. Is it fiction? Sort of. Couldn’t this all happen in the next few hours? Yes. Doesn’t that make it non-fiction?

This may be the only book one would need if they wanted to know more about nuclear weapons, why they are so dangerous, and what makes it such a complex issue.

This book blows you away!

This is a stunningly well written book that demonstrates the folly of nuclear war by simply describing the mechanics of executing a nuclear war. The level of research done to write this book is obvious with every minute spent listening to the book. My only suggestion is to hire Scott Brick or some other professional voice actor to improve the performance. Still this is a must read book especially given current events.

My stomach hasn’t been the same since I started

This is, by far, the most well-researched and presented plausible Armageddon stories. Jacobsen is eminently qualified to present such a scenario. It’s absolutely terrifying. Not in the Stephen King horror type of narrative, but rather in its gut wrenching detail. DO NOT read this if you are at all sensitive - you’ve been warned. I’ve read dozens of similar books and nothing can even remotely hold a candle to Nuclear War. It should be required reading for all military leaders, political leaders, and any president or presidential candidate.

Very well researched. Very disturbing

The story told in this book is a hypothetical scenario with a very disturbing outcome. While the reporting behind this book and well researched citing credible experts and scientists, there are a thousand ways this outcome may have been different. But that isn't the point the author was trying to convey. And maybe this is a good time for a wider audience to have a discussion about strategic blunder witnessed in out lifetimes.

Another impressive book

The amount of detail Annie gives this book is unreal. The research she puts into this book is amazing. So much praise for her commitment and ability to give us this book. Thank you

Couldn’t Sleep at All last Night

Left with images so real and frightening it’s hard to relax while reading. Nuclear armament proliferation is insane and we’re all part of the insanity.