Nuclear War

A Scenario

By: Annie Jacobsen

Narrated by: Annie Jacobsen

The INSTANT New York Times bestseller

Instant Los Angeles Times bestseller

Shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize

“In Nuclear War: A Scenario, Annie Jacobsen gives us a vivid picture of what could happen if our nuclear guardians fail…Terrifying.”—Wall Street Journal

There is only one scenario other than an asteroid strike that could end the world as we know it in a matter of hours: nuclear war. And one of the triggers for that war would be a nuclear missile inbound toward the United States.

Every generation, a journalist has looked deep into the heart of the nuclear military establishment: the technologies, the safeguards, the plans, and the risks. These investigations are vital to how we understand the world we really live in—where one nuclear missile will beget one in return, and where the choreography of the world’s end requires massive decisions made on seconds’ notice with information that is only as good as the intelligence we have.

Pulitzer Prize finalist Annie Jacobsen’s Nuclear War: A Scenario explores this ticking-clock scenario, based on dozens of exclusive new interviews with military and civilian experts who have built the weapons, have been privy to the response plans, and have been responsible for those decisions should they have needed to be made. Nuclear War: A Scenario examines the handful of minutes after a nuclear missile launch. It is essential reading, and unlike any other book in its depth and urgency.

©2024 Penguin Audio (P)2024 Annie Jacobsen

Critic reviews

“Gripping . . . essential if you want to understand the complex and disturbing details that go into a civilization-destroying decision to drop the Bomb on an enemy. . . . Jacobsen has done her homework. She has spent more than a decade interviewing dozens of experts while mastering the voluminous literature on the subject, some of it declassified only in recent years.” — New York Times Book Review

“Timeless, masterful. . .A stomach-clenching, multi-perspective, ticking-clock, geopolitical thriller. Jacobsen expertly delivers a madman’s portrait of Armageddon, one made all the more impactful by the thought that it could literally occur at any moment. Almost novel-like in its presentation, Nuclear War: A Scenario represents the equivalent of an existential gut punch, a sickening and necessary reminder of how fragile every 21st century convenience becomes in the face of a blinding flash of light and near-instantaneous shockwave. Exhaustively researched and featuring interviews with professionals who truly understand just how close we continue to creep toward thermonuclear annihilation Nuclear War: A Scenario should be required reading for everyone alive today, especially for the politicians and policymakers who literally hold the precarious fate of our species in their hands.” — Forbes

“Nuclear War sketches out a global nuclear war with by-the-minute precision for all of the 72 minutes between the first missile launch and the end of the world. . . . the scenario is constructed from dozens of interviews and documentation, some of it newly declassified, as a factual grounding to describe what could happen.” — Politico

Humanity MUST listen

This was written in a very unique, gripping way. Annie has done the world a justice. The amount of detail, beginning with the SECOND after a rocket is launched, all the way to the effects it could have on earth years after, is simply astounding. This is a move to the top of your list book.

A terrifying must-listen

Wow — I’m speechless. There were many times throughout this book that I had to stop what I was doing and sit there, mouth agape. When I’d finish my session, I’d often find myself sitting in silence, wondering how we, as a species, got to this point. Definitely a terrifying read, one which I’d consider a must-read.

Scary as hell

This is the only book that has ever truly scared me. It will change how you think. So many things I did not know.

A beyond sobering truth: ground zero is the best place to be.

Annie is my favorite investigative journalist and writer that I've come across. I listened to this book over the course of just two days. The horrific yet fantastic realization is it just like Game of Thrones, everybody dies, but in this tale the best place to be is directly under the thermal nuclear weapon when it goes off, and that the base human desire to survive is complete folly. This book lays out in fantastic and unarguable detail the reality that deterrence is a silly idea based on rational Homosapien. But what kind of rational Homosapien creates a weapon based on the core of a star. This book might change who you vote for, but it will also make you love your family and your pets that much more and appreciate how beautiful the Earth is. Like all her other books, I will listen to this more than once.

intensly scary

great walk through minute by minute of what could unfold and the tragedy. Very detailed from weapon launches to immediate effects to long term.

Pace and truthfulness

Stunning non fiction! Engrossing and succinct . Recommended my military friends with knowledge of catastrophic implications

Shocking

One of the most shocking books I have ever read. Definitely worth the read. It's changed me.

Chilling and provocative

Lots of chilling details on how the process would play out and the inevitability of it all once it’s gotten started. The end does get away from itself as it understandably doesn’t have a “resolution” but strong recommend.

The realism and deatail was extraordinary and numbing.

In this scenario, upon realizing that the U.S counterstrike on North Korea wasn't an attack against Russia, I would've like seeing the face of the Russian President as he realize he launched a full scale, life ending attack on the U.S. the realization that a phone call would have maybe stopped this attack.

Very scary to envision!

This was a powerful reminder to everyone, world leaders included, never never never let this happen! No one wins! We all lose. This scared me beyond measure. Pray we never see this day!