Non-fiction but a gripping read. A real eye-opener about nuclear weapons safety and strategy. Thoroughly researched but written in a way to keep you hooked without being gimmicky or distorting the facts. Everything from the global picture down to how the lives of individuals were affected, all woven together to produce a coherent historical narrative and a warning for the future.

A hair-raising history of military nuclear safety, this book is frequently scary and as you read story after story of the military's slipshod handling of nuclear warheads, or the insane ignorance of policy makers, you begin to wonder how the world made it through the Cold War without going up in flames. The book jumps between a chronological narrative of nuclear weapons policy and practises, peppered with startling stories of missing, dropped or faulty nuclear bombs, and a detailed account of a fire at a missile silo. It is an effective choice, that manages to illustrate how the politicking decisions made by the ill-informed impacted on the people who actually had to deal with the weapons on a day-to-day basis. Well-written and compelling, this book is worthwhile not just for fans of history, but for anyone interested in the human race's absurd ability to make even the most terrible things banal.