Product Description
This is a political history of nuclear weapons from the discovery of fission in 1938 to the nuclear train wreck that seems to loom in our future. It is an account of where those weapons came from, how the technology surprisingly and covertly spread, who is likely to acquire those weapons next and most importantly why. The authors’ examination of post-Cold War national and geopolitical issues regarding nuclear proliferation and the effects of Chinese sponsorship of the Pakistani program is eye opening. The reckless “nuclear weapons programs for sale” exporting of technology by Pakistan is truly chilling as is the on again off again North Korean nuclear weapons program.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.0 based on 16 reviews)

The Nuclear Express: A Political History of the Bomb and Its Proliferation by A. Leask (Australia)

4 Stars
November 13, 2009
A good story told with verve and provocative insight. This book adds quality information to the public record on nuclear weapons programs worldwide. This book is a very useful addition to my library.

An interesting and scary book by Teemacs (Switzerland)

4 Stars
November 05, 2009
This book is a strange blend of technical and historical fact and political cautionary tale. These mixed motives are carried off with varying degrees of success. As it was written by two insiders in the nuclear establishment, you'd expect it to excel in technical detail, and so it does. The entire history of nuclear weapons, from the moment that it was realised that a nuclear chain reaction was possible to the present day, is covered very thoroughly and comprehensibly, along with good explanatory appendixes. The technical information is pitched at the perfect level for intelligent laymen (and me) - comprehensive, but not overly complex (the technology of making fissile material go bang in a big way is extremely sophisticated). It is full of all sorts of fascinating nuggets of information - I hadn't realised that the nuclear generators in submarines had to use weapons-grade uranium (95%+ pure, as opposed to nuclear power stations' about 5% pure), because it was the only way to make them sufficiently compact. Alongside this, the authors provide histories of the countries involved in the nuclear enterprise, of their motivations and of the people involved. To me, these were extremely interesting, and they seem generally accurate, with just the occasional hint of tailoring to fit particular personal or political agendas. Occasionally, there are historical goofs, such as Muslim terrorists being said to want to reverse the results of the Crusades. As the Muslims actually won the Crusades (a Kurdish gentleman known as Saladin was involved), I don't think that this is likely. It naturally points out how the situation has changed. When countries possessed nuclear weapons, they naturally refrained from using them, as this would have been tantamount to suicide. However, terrorists do not have capital cities or major population centres or industrial complexes that can be identified and destroyed. Add to that the willingness, even desire, of some terrorists to become martyrs for some cause or other, and the fact that the collapse of the Soviet Union opened the possibility of terrorists obtaining weapons-grade nuclear material and even complete weapons. And of course there is the possibility that "rogue" states may make such things available to terrorist groups and look suitably innocent when one goes off. For me, the most interesting thing is that, in the view of the authors, the "rogue" state to watch is China. The authors remind us of China's former greatness, when China sent large fleets of huge ships (which dwarfed Columbus's ships and even big sailing vessels such as Nelson's "Victory") under Admiral Zheng He to explore the world. These ships reached Africa and the Middle East (and perhaps even Australia, long before Tasman and Cook). However, the Chinese decided that the world was full of barbarians and unworthy of notice, so the big fleets came back and were burned, and China turned its back on the world. The authors see China as seeking to return to its former world greatness by exploiting the nuclear situation. They believe that China would never attack the USA with nuclear weapons, but that it would be advantaged by such an attack. Having virtually no Muslim problem of its own (a small problem with the Uighurs in Xinjiang in the far west, easily fixed in the normal police state fashion), it can quietly make available nuclear information to dubious governments (Pakistan, North Korea) and others, knowing that this will be Someone Else's Problem, and believing that China will inevitably benefit from any misuse. The trick is to ensure that, when a nuclear device goes bang somewhere, your fingerprints aren't all over it. This is a rather scary premise, but is it realistic? Impossible to say, of course, but the fact that the authors have long acquaintance with both the people and the facilities of the Chinese nuclear establishment means that they are not without basis for it. Chairman Mao famously said that the Chinese would be the beneficiaries of a major nuclear war because China's enormous population made the odds on its survival that much better. The authors believe that the present Chinese Government has a more sophisticated version of the same thinking. One hopes not. The book ends with an epilogue that describes how the authors propose to counter what they see as the dangerous double duo of China and Islamic extremism. The book could do with a bit of editing. Some of the sentence construction is poor (and in some cases non-existent). Then there is the spelling. These are technical experts, yet "hexafluoride" as in "uranium hexafluoride" (the gas made as one step in the purification of uranium) is irritatingly frequently rendered as "hexaflouride", making it sound like a baker's ingredient. And I didn't think that even non-metallurgical Americans could misspell "nickel" ("nickle").

Interesting & Informative - Thought-provoking by Gary W. Mitchell (Redlands, CA United States)

5 Stars
October 07, 2009
An outstanding effort of chronicling the advent of the nucleur age - from the early days to (almost) today. Experienced readers may learn little (if anything) concerning the early period of the development of nucleur energy in Britain, the U.S. and Germany. But the addition of early nucleur development programs undertaken in the Soviet Union and Japan are less well publicized. You are left with the very clear implication that the description of the international "race for the bomb" was very real and was an endeavor that could have easily been won earlier by states bent upon international conquest. What distinguishes this work from most of the other historical works I have read is the inclusion of the nucleur development programs by lesser states, particularly what are commonly referred to as "third world nations". The book gives quite a sobering illustration of how lesser states like Israel, India, Pakistan, and the numerous arab states have sought, completed, and are still seeking nucleur weapons of mass destruction. Of particular interest is the discussion of both China and North Korea's nucleur programs. Proiliferation of nucleur weapons throughout the world certainkly poses an unsettling risk to peace - especially when one considers the fact that newer nucleur states have already vowed to bury western civilization! I rate this work quite highly, and strongly recommnend it to anyone curious about how nucleur weapons were developed and by whom, and how their proliferation throughout the developing world makes the likelihood of nucleur weapons use not only disasterous but quite inevitable.

Facts and more galore by G. H. Lander (Corenc, France)

3 Stars
June 18, 2009
The Nuclear Express A Political history of the bomb and its proliferation Thomas C. Reed and Danny B. Stillman. This is an extraordinarily wide-ranging book describing almost every attempt (so far) to make a nuclear weapon. Much of it makes stimulating reading. There are a vast number of "facts" in this book, many of them about complicated efforts of countries to acquire nuclear technology. One is frequently tempted to ask for more references, but the very nature of the activities may make it difficult for the authors to provide such verifiable sources. On the other hand, the general tone of this book is that all nuclear efforts, except those of the US, and possibly the UK, have been somehow shrouded in dubious and unsavoury deals. This tone continually gets in the way of a rationale discussion. The authors never question, for example, the US decision (by Truman) to drop the atomic bomb on Japan, and in particular the Nagasaki weapon when it was clear from intercepted conversations that the Japanese were ready to surrender. Likewise, the decision to "go for the super" - again by Truman, against the advice of the GAC, is never discussed. There is an implicit assumption in this book that all actions of the US have been benevolent and for the sake of peace. History is unlikely to be so kind. The flying of H-bomb loaded B52's in the cold war by SAC is mentioned and incidents like the accidents at Thule in Greenland and Palomares, Spain, discussed without the seriousness they deserve. It is not true, for example, that there is no contamination at Thule. There is a great deal and it is still being monitored; fortunately the population density is small. Kennedy had the wisdom to cancel these practices of the SAC, against the wishes of his military, before a much worse accident occurred. But there is much to recommend this book in the facts as presented. It is true that almost in all cases a negative "spin" is put on other people's nukes and intentions. However, it is prudent in the intelligence community to plan for the worst. What is slightly worrying is that there are some errors of fact in the book that could have been easily checked with Wikipedia. On p. 9, Strassman did not share the Nobel Prize with Hahn; the latter received it alone, leaving not only Strassman, but especially Lise Meitner, out in the cold. On p. 22, it was not James Forrestal, but Henry Stimson, who spared Kyoto from A-bombing. These are small and unimportant errors, but they do raise the spectre that perhaps many of the other "facts" should be better sourced. In the end, the authors correctly criticize the incredible political failure over the nukes that Saddam Hussein was supposed to have before the 2003 invasion of Iraq. They highlight the very contentious discussions about non-proliferation held by the IAEA in NY in 2005, without for a moment thinking that the unilateralism exhibited by the Bush administration might have been a huge contributing factor. They endorse the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, but at the same time do not exclude the possible resumption of testing - a completely inconsistent position! What seems so difficult for the authors to accept is that the very continuation of the nuclear deterrent by countries such as the US, Russia, UK, and France, is counterproductive in trying to persuade others not to follow. Thank goodness that President Obama has, at last, said that a goal should be the elimination of these weapons of mass destruction, or at least their immediate reduction to a small number. Until we show verifiable steps towards that goal we simply do not have the moral right to lecture countries such as Iran that they cannot have such toys. In the long term, of course, they will find them as useless in matters of policy as the present nuclear powers do. Gerry Lander Corenc, France June 2009

Authoritative, Urgent, a Nuclear Briefing Book for Obama and You by David Gurgel (Roseland, New Jersey United States)

5 Stars
May 31, 2009
Two authors with decades of experience in nuclear weapons have combined to write a riveting account of the origin and proliferation of nuclear weapons (but alas they too have no sure way to prevent a future disaster). One could hope that this book was the outline for briefing President Obama during the turnover from the Bush administration. I would be more comfortable if I saw the dust jacket of Nuclear Express peeking out from a shelf in the oval office at the next photo op. Or carry it in your hand, Mr. President, as you walk the dog. I trust that this brilliant young president already knows that the number one military question is not General Motors. Coauthor Danny Stillman was a top physicist at Los Alamos and for many years the director of the Technical Intelligence Division there. His extraordinary background includes multiple trips to the Chinese and Russian nuclear weapons complexes as an official guest in the 1980s and 1990s during a period when giving one's adversaries a closer look was thought to promote respect and restraint. These trips are recounted in some detail in the book, and Mr. Stillman counts the top Chinese nuclear leader and others as personal friends. Coauthor Tom Reed was an H-bomb physicist, secretary of the Air Force, and a top Reagan political advisor. He was a frequent visitor to the Soviet Union. I am an Annapolis grad who later earned a master's degree in nuclear engineering. I had rather minor collateral assignments in my Navy days in nuclear weapons security and nuclear weapons accident response. The technical level of this book is sufficient for the intent of the book (an explanation and warning of the need to keep the Nuclear Express on the track) but won't overtax the general reader. Most of the book is a detailed chronology of nuclear proliferation from the days of the Manhattan project up until the end of the George W. Bush's administration. Currently the nuclear club numbers nine states with one or more nuclear weapons with North Korea the latest member. (The number would be ten if South Africa had not voluntarily given up its weapons and in 1991 signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.) The authors praise the Chinese for nuclear weapons competence and technical excellence of development installations. The Chinese are as yet only third or fourth best in numbers of warheads (not yet 5% of the Russian or US individual totals, which are roughly equal) and no better than that in scope and reliability of geographic deployment and delivery vehicles. Nuclear weapons development requires tests, normally including some of at least several kilotons capacity. Such tests are quit easily detected by the intelligence agencies of the advanced states. The dates of the tests and the approximate yield and weapons characteristics of the tests provide a large body of generally accepted data describing the path of what the authors call the "Nuclear Express." The authors connect these factual dots with expert knowledge, conjecture, and opinion to provide a more complete narrative that includes dozens of charts and tables and an extensive index. While the arrival of the Express at each milestone station usually is accompanied by an earth-shaking detonation, the future movements and the composition of its crew and passengers between stops is shrouded in more secrecy. Who is on board and when will it arrive in Iran or Syria? How has Egypt avoided the Express so far? Who was on board when it rolled through Iraq, Libya, and Algeria and why did it not stop in these countries? Did President Eisenhower just wave as it headed towards Israel? Is there a station already prepared for the Express in Saudi Arabia? And why and how did the Express back out of outlying republics of the old Soviet Union? See the book. The book mentions many riders and crewmember, including American, Russian, French, British, Pakistani, Chinese, and South African scientists as frequently being on board. Regardless of nationality, degrees from top American research universities are very common and prized, and a copy or simple adaptation of the American Fat Man weapon (implosion devise with plutonium core) dropped on Nagasaki August 9, 1945, is often the first weapon attempted at each stop of the Express. For example, India's entry in 1974 is commonly called Smiling Buddha and is similar to Fat Man. (The Little Boy, a primitive gun-tube type device dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, can be replicated with little expertise but requires about 150 lbs of highly enriched, weapons-grade uranium. Enrichment requires large, elaborate installations - cascaded centrifuges or other. A Fat Man is much more intricate as a weapon, but its plutonium core is produced in many electrical-power reactors. Atoms for peace often have more sinister cousins. ) Experience, scientific expertise, arduous scholarship, and a large circle of contacts in the express train business when coupled with writing skills and a sincere attempt to create a realistic history are more than sufficient to make this book a valuable resource. It is only as the book in its final chapters looks to the tasks in the future needed to slow the Express and keep it on the tracks (no accidents, no deliberate use) that the book can be said by some to be confrontational or political. Certainly the authors themselves do not show much confidence that the politics of nuclear weapons can be known and planned with the same accuracy as the physics. But then has anyone espoused a solution to this dreadful problem that has stood the test of even a decade? Forget swine flu and look to the nuclear express for real urgency. Read the following excerpt from the book and recount it to your friends. It got my attention. I saw 9/11 from Midtown and live today within site of Manhattan. From the book: Instead of fertilizer, suppose that Mr. Yousef [first World Trade Center bombing] had been able to place a primitive, five-kiloton nuclear weapon in the back of his truck. Since that vehicle had a one-ton capacity and three hundred cubic feet of drayage space, the very low-tech South African nuclear device developed during the 1980s would have fit nicely. After that February 1993 fertilizer attack, the U.S. nuclear weapons laboratories ran some calculations on the theoretical results of a five-kiloton explosion on the streets of lower Manhattan on February 26, 1993, given the wind and weather conditions on that day. The most frightening results of such an attack could have been: * Most buildings south of Central Park destroyed, their inhabitants dead * Millions of other New Yorkers, once living south of 125th Street, dying of radiation effects * Millions more throughout the metropolitan area suffering acute radiation sickness * Much of lower Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Hoboken set on fire Unless we are attentive to history, a terrorist organization will soon be able to assemble and place such an A-bomb within a truck, ship, or container and deliver the same to the heart of any number of U.S. cities. Even "small and inefficient" nuclear weapons could have a devastating effect on American society and its institutions. But is the simple raining of death and destruction on the West the only goal of these people? The jihadists and/or their patrons may have grander ambitions.

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