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Customer Reviews of On Thermonuclear War.

The Survivors will envy the dead...
ON THERMONUCLEAR WAR is Rand Corporation think tank genius Herman Kahn's classic study on nuclear war "scenarios", deterrence strategies, and effects of nuclear conflagration. It is a "scholarly" tome whose subject is nightmare, and whose academic tone is as frightening as the subject it concerns. FINITE DETERRENT; COUNTER-FORCE; MASSIVE RETALIATION; OVERKILL; PREVENTATIVE STRIKE; and MUTUALLY ASSURED DESTRUCTION (MAD) are among terms connoting Apocalypse that are bandied about as casually as a local weatherman delivering his nightly forecast, or a high school junior varsity baseball coach discussing building- year prospects for next year's team. Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove (played by Peter Sellers in the black comedy of the same name) and The Professor (played by Walter Matthau)in Fail-Safe, are satirical incarnations of Professor Kahn which cannot match the surreality of his essays revelling in the possibility of mankind's self-annihilation. "More than 10,000 Tons of TNT PER PERSON (ad the population of the entire planet)" is ascribed to nuclear arsenal fire-power of the United States and the former Soviet Union (circa 1960) in one of OTW's many "fascinating" appendices. ( An over-kill ratio of 5:1 was averred to the United States, allowing it to sustain a Soviet first strike and annihilate Russia in consequent retaliatory response). ON THERMONUCLEAR WAR is indeed fascinating if you wish a glimpse into Lucifer's equivalent of the Book of Revelation. Forget about Nostradamus or any occult prognostication to be gleaned from The Inquirer or your favorite "seer". Herman Kahn is the annointed Adept of the "theology" of nuclear war. (His discussion of tactical nuclear war and First-strike Options is enough to cause nightmares!) Dante's INFERNO will always remain the ultra-non-plus description of Hell. OTW may be regarded as the classic "cook" book on how to get there as a civilization. Most people have probably never heard of it, nor will read it. But ON THERMONUCLEAR WAR is worth a respectful scan...not for its factoids (which undoubtedly were surpassed years ago)...but rather, for a gaze into the visage of the Beast, the Final War, where Kahn is quoted to state: THE SURVIVORS WILL ENVY THE DEAD......

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An Excellent and inciteful book.
Although it was written in the 60s, this book has great relevancy to today. Mr. Kahn has the backbone to state his opinions without sugarcoating or clouding the facts. It is a little on the technical side, but is an enlightening read.

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Tough Reading, but Worth It
On Thermonuclear War is a work from 1960 that runs counter to the conventional wisdom of his day, and which still exists to this day. He attacks the so-called "cataclysmic" view of nuclear war. Kahn provides numbers to show that a total nuclear war is survivable, and that our society could eventually recuperate. Make no mistake, at no point does he advocate nuclear war, he merely makes us face the fact that it could happen, and that we had better be prepared to deal with it. After all, the Soviets did. Although this book would seem to be dated in this Post-Cold War era, remember that we and the Russians still possess hefty nuclear arsenals, and the world is a much less stable place than during the Cold War. This book can be hard to read, given the plethora of technical information, but it is worth it.