THE GREAT AMERICAN BOMB MACHINE

by Roger Rapoport ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 29, 1971

Roger Rapoport (Is the Library Burning?, 1969) introduces the great American bomb machine on his own terms (shake head not hands) and after an alarming, one-sided discussion concludes that we have just met the enemy and they are us. Briefly, Rapoport's investigations indicate that U.S. nuclear weapons constitute more of a clear and present danger to the health and safety of the American public than anyone else, and by implication that the Russian and Chinese bomb machines are less of a menace to us than our own. Throughout Rapoport supports this view with numerous examples of workers and ordinary citizens and livestock and the environment destroyed or threatened by radiation contamination, criticality accidents, etc. due to human carelessness or stupidity, natural disasters, or electronic malfunctions during the testing, production, and management stages of atomic weaponry. In short ""the great American bomb machine has gotten away with murder."" Which prompts Rapoport to urge immediate U.S. unilateral nuclear disarmament, a move from the conversation pit into the light or into a logical cul-de-sac, depending on one's point of view. Indeed many will call him tetched or in SANE or a rotter or something worse. But Rapoport's position might be able to stand the heat it's sure to get from the gang who sell the Pentagon and those (almost everyone?) who think maintaining a military power balance is still a good idea -- it might because the rationale for unilaterally junking our big bombs is almost as convincing as it is unsettling.

Pub Date: Oct. 29, 1971

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Dutton

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1971

Categories: NONFICTION