Red Cloud at Dawn: Truman, Stalin, and the End of the Atomic Monopoly PDF
Preview Red Cloud at Dawn: Truman, Stalin, and the End of the Atomic Monopoly
$28.00 On August 29,1949, the first Soviet test bomb, dubbed "First Lightning," exploded in the deserts of Kazakhstan. This startling event was not simply a technical experiment that confirmed the ability of the Soviet Union to build nuclear bombs during a period when the United States held a steadfast monopoly; it was also an international event that marked the beginning of an arms race that would ultimately lead to nuclear proliferation beyond the two superpowers. Following a trail of espionage, secrecy, deception, political brinksman- ship, and technical innovation, Michael D. Gordin challenges conventional technology-centered nuclear histories by looking at the prominent roles that atomic intelligence and other forms of information play in the uncertainties of nuclear arms development and political decision making. Tapping newly opened archives, Gordin focuses on the extraor¬ dinary story of First Lightning to provide a fresh understanding of the origins of the nuclear arms race, as well as the all-too- urgent problem of proliferation. * * Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2018 with funding from Kahle/Austin Foundation https://archive.org/details/redcloudatdawntrOOOOgord Also by Michael 0. Gordin Five Days in August: How World War II Became a Nuclear War A Well-Ordered Thing: Dmitrii Mendeleev and the Shadow of the Periodic Table RED CLOUD AT DAWN HUMAN, STALIN, III IK III Of THE ATOMIC MONOPOLY FARRAR, STRAUS AND GIROUX | NEW FORK Farrar, Straus and Giroux 18 West 18th Street, New York 10011 Copyright © 2009 by Michael D. Gordin All rights reserved Distributed in Canada by D&M Publishers, Inc. Printed in the United States of America First edition, 2009 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Gordin, Michael D. Red cloud at dawn : Truman, Stalin, and the end of the atomic monopoly / Michael D. Gordin.— 1st ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-374-25682-1 (hardcover : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-374-25682-9 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Nuclear weapons—History—20th century. 2. Arms race—History— 20th century. 3. World politics—1945-1955. 4. Truman, Harry S., 1884-1972. 5. Stalin, Joseph, 1879-1953. 6. United States—Foreign relations—Soviet Union. 7. Soviet Union—Foreign relations—United States. 8. United States—Foreign relations—1945—1953. 9. Soviet Union—Foreign relations—1945—1991. I. Title. U264.G67 2009 355.02' 17094709044—dc22 2009001424 Designed by Debbie Glasserman www.fsgbooks.com 10 987654 3 21
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