Annie Jacobsen has quite a story to tell. But she is afraid of not being believed. For good reasons. So, half of the book consists of sources and references. This is a deeply researched book. But Jacobsen is the Elmore Leonard of Apocalyptic non-fiction and turns a horrifying and probable tale of Armageddon into a gripping thriller. Jacobsen writes dialogue with the flair of a novelist, highly realistic and emotionally charged. You’ll also learn a lot about the nuts and bolts of nuclear arsenals.

She starts with this fact:
“The President, like almost all US president, is entirely underinformed about how to wage nuclear war when it happens. The President has no idea that as soon as he has been briefed on what is happening, he will have just 6 minutes to deliberate and decide which nuclear weapons to launch in response 6 minutes.”

This true-to-life scenario is divided in quick chapters named: “4/10th of second after launch (Pyongsong, North Korea)”; “1 to 3 seconds after launch (Aerospace Data Facility-Colorado”); “4 Seconds (Space)” all the way to “24 000 years into the future”.

The premise here is that North Korea is sending a thermonuclear bomb via missile to hit the USA. Jacobsen says:

“There is a myth among Americans that the US can easily shoot down an incoming attacking ICBM (Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile carrying thermonuclear warheads). Presidents, Congress people, defense officials, and countless others in the military industrial complex have all said as much. This is simply not true”.

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A big part of the drama unfolding is that the deciders are psychologically unprepared to decide to launch a nuclear war in 5 minutes. The President has to choose between different options while the Secret Service is hauling him away to Marine One on the way to a nuclear-safe location.

Here a few eye-opening and discomforting quotes from the book:

“The truth is there is no federal agency to help citizens survive a nuclear war. What FEMA does is focus on how to save specific government officials in the event of a nuclear attack”.

“Former Secretary of Defense William Perry says an immediate consequence of a nuclear war would be military rule. it would be almost impossible in the US to undo military rule after that”.

The doomsday machine exists:
“The Soviets developed a system known as the Dead Hand officially named Perimeter. The system is designed to ensure that if Moscow gets preemptively attacked, nuclear war will not end until Russia’s entire arsenal is emptied. It works as an automatic control system made-up of seismic sensors capable of detecting a nuclear strike on Russian soil. Should the system perceive lost communication with Russia’s commanders, the Dead Hand can allegedly launch nuclear weapons on his own.”

“In 2016 North Korea send a satellite in orbit It has an unusual S to north orbit that allows it to fly directly over the United States including over Washington DC and New York City. That this kind of satellite might not be a reconnaissance or communications satellite has North Korea has claimed but a small nuclear weapon orbiting the earth ready to detonate on command over the United States in the ionosphere and destroy the entire US power grid. And the result are dams burst mass flooding begins sweeping infrastructure and people away there will be no more fresh water no more toilets to flush no sanitation no St. lights no tunnel lights no lights at all only candles until the unknown left to burn no gas pumps no fuel no ATMs no cash withdrawals no access to money no cell phones no landlines no calling 911 no calls at all no ambulance services no hospital equipment that works sewage spills out everywhere it takes less than 15 minutes for these carrying insects to swarm they feel on piles of human waste on garbage on the dead.


“The conclusion drawn in 2022 by 10 scientists working on 4 continents in a paper for nature food is succinct than 5 billion could die from a nuclear war between the United States and Russia.”

Sweet dreams.