Episode 6 - Nuclear Fallout

On the sixth episode of American History Too! we leave the tawdry goings-on of the Gilded Age far behind and for this cheery Christmas special we examine the subject of Nuclear Fallout in the context of the early Cold War (1945-1960). Malcolm, who specialises in this area, guides us through the history of the nuclear bomb: How was it first conceived and why was it deployed? How close were the Nazis to securing the bomb? What’s so special about a hydrogen (or ‘super’) bomb? Is it conceivable that a bomb could be constructed that would destroy the entire world? In what ways have governments chosen to educate (or not) their citizenry about what would happen in the case of nuclear war? Duck and cover as Malcolm takes us on this tour de force of nuclear history. We hope all of our listeners have a great holiday season and we’ll be back with the force of nature that was Teddy Roosevelt early next year. As usual, we would love to hear feedback on the podcasts as we are very receptive to making improvements for future episodes. Thanks again for listening this year, we really appreciate it! Cheers, Mark & Malcolm Reading List - Hennessey, Peter, The Secret State: Preparing for the Worst, 1945-2010, 2nd edition (London: Penguin, 2010) - Hughes, Jeff, ‘The Strath Report: Britain Confronts the H-Bomb, 1954–1955,’ History and Technology: An International Journal, 19:3 (2003), 257-275 - Jones, Matthew, After Hiroshima: The United States, Race, and Nuclear Weapons in Asia, 1945-1965 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010) - Winkler, Allan M., Life Under A Cloud: American Anxiety About the Atom (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1993) - Shapiro, Jerome F., Atomic Bomb Cinema: The Apocalyptic Imagination on Film (London: Routledge, 2002) - http://www.civildefensemuseum.com/index.html