ANNIE JACOBSEN‘s 2024 release, NUCLEAR WAR, is a compelling and, quite frankly, terrifying book. I’ve not come across anything like it before. It reads like a curious mix of fiction and non-fiction – an exploration of a fictitious scenario filtered through the reality of how nuclear weapons are controlled today and how, if the unthinkable happens, they’d be used.

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.
Until now, no one outside official circles has known exactly what would happen if a rogue state launched a nuclear missile at the Pentagon. Second by second and minute by minute, these are the real-life protocols that choreograph the end of civilization as we know it.
Decisions that affect hundreds of millions of lives need to be made within six minutes, based on partial information, in the knowledge that once launched, nothing is capable of halting the destruction.
Based on dozens of new interviews with military and civilian experts who have built the weapons, been privy to the response plans, and taken responsibility for crucial decisions, this is the only account of what a nuclear exchange would look like.
Nuclear War is at once a compulsive non-fiction thriller and a powerful argument that we must rid ourselves of these world-ending weapons for ever.
It’s interesting, I think, that the most successful films about nuclear war take a quasi-documentary approach to the subject. Take THREADS, for example, where the human drama is regularly interrupted by first, war and civil planning updates, then, after the bombs have dropped, grim facts and statistics about the impact of the attack on life on earth. THE WAR GAME is similar, with a roving film crew impossibly documenting the devastation. Though I’m sure other disasters could be documented equally successfully by taking this approach, the combination of facts and horrific storytelling really befits a nuclear holocaust.
You can think of this book almost as an antithesis to the films I’ve just mentioned. They focus on personal stories to show the scale of impact to the human race as a whole. NUCLEAR WAR, on the other hand, looks at the likely actions and reactions to the launch of a nuclear attack from the perspective of the people and organisations who’d make the decisions leading to launch. Spoiler alert: we’re fucked.
Jacobsen’s writing style works well – the book is neither overly technical nor hysterically emotive. It’s detached without being cold, engaging whilst still keeping you at arm’s length. The scenario she uses as the trigger for conflict – a completely unexpected nuclear attack on the US by North Korea – is eminently plausible, as are the events that attack subsequently triggers. It’s clear that there’s almost certainly no such thing as a limited nuclear exchange. Once one missile is launched, it’s likely that many, many more will follow in retaliation.
If you’re looking for a book that’s going to give you any comfort whatsoever, look elsewhere. Where NUCLEAR WAR really succeeds is by drawing you into a compelling, believable narrative that highlights the constant danger we all face. The end of everything really does feel as if it’s one bad decision away. And if you look at some of the obscene, sociopathic, narcissistic fuckers who currently occupy the seats of power around the world, things don’t look good at all.
Highly recommended reading. I was going to write something about keeping a copy in your bomb shelter just in case, but if there’s one thing my unhealthy fascination with armageddon has told me over the years, it’s that there’s really very little point having a shelter at all!
Ignore my doom-mongering and pick up a copy of NUCLEAR WAR from all the usual places.