Well… I really think we should not do nuclear war.

In all seriousness, this was probably not the greatest book to read while already spiraling about the climate crisis and increased hostility around the globe, but I do feel slightly more informed and definitely more alarmed about the mere existence of nuclear weapons. I kept coming back to that scene at the end of Oppenheimer when he tells Einstein that that they likely did usher in the destruction of the world with the creation of the atomic bomb, because that felt truer than ever as I went through the book.

Seeing a step-by-step scenario play was incredibly chilling and also just terrifyingly realistic (even though all of the worst possible scenarios were the ones that played out). I did think the writing was a bit over the top, and some of her comments on North Korea seemed just kind of out of place, especially in a made up scenario (like please don’t even quote from Joe Rogan’s podcast even in passing please). After just reading Challenger by Adam Higginbotham, which set a high bar for gripping scientific nonfiction, I feel like the writing and journalism was just not as well organized or paced as I would have hoped. Ultimately, I ended this book feeling entirely upset but also more informed, though unsure exactly where to go from here with this knowledge. Just panic I guess??

Easily the scariest book I've read in a long time. If you're prone to feeling anxious about what-if scenarios then I don't recommend you read this. 

Very detailed and well researched chronological description of a nuclear war scenario. As layman the scenario feels realistic even though full scale escalation hinges on multiple “mistakes”. The book is fully focused on the US and only briefly touches on Europe, Russia, China etc. In addition, the book spends too much time on explicit descriptions of the horror of a nuclear detonation. As such relatively little time is spent on elaborating and investigating the underlying assumptions and strategic/tactical consequences of the madness that is inherent in the concept of Mutual Assured Destruction. 

Rather terrifying how easy it is for the world to end.