Britain and the H-Bomb

by L. Arnold

Overview

Britain and the H-Bomb reveals why, in the 1950s, the government wanted a British H-bomb, how the scientists and engineers developed it in only three years, and what were the historic consequences of their achievements.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780312235185
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan UK
Publication date:	03/30/2001
Edition description:	2001
Pages:	273
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.03(d)

About the Author

LORNA ARNOLD OBE is a Fellow of the Institute of Physics and Fellow of the Institute of Contemporary British History. She is author of A Very Special Relationship: British Weapon Trials in Australia (1987) and Windscale 1957: Anatomy of a Nuclear Accident.

Table of Contents

List of Plates Foreword by Lawrence Freedman Preface PART I: SETTING THE AGENDA Stellar Forces The First Superbomb Project: The United States The Second Superbomb Project: The Soviet Union PART II: BRITAIN AND THE THERMONUCLEAR QUESTION What Must Britain Do? A General Instruction from the Government PART III: BRITAIN'S RESPONSE Aldermaston and the Weaponers The Megaton Mission Captain Cook's Coral Island Racing Against Time PART IV: THE PACIFIC TRIALS The First Trial: Grapple 'We Shall Have To Do It All Again': Grapple X Britain's Biggest Explosion: Grapple Y Mission Accomplished: Grapple Z PART V: A SPECIAL NUCLEAR RELATIONSHIP The Great Prize Some Questions and Answers Appendices Notes and References Select Bibliography Index

Editorial Reviews

“...a work of record...written with zest, narrative drive and a manifest affection for those men behind the Aldermaston wire.” —Financial Times

“...an excellent book that sheds needed light on the world's third thermonuclear power.” —Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

“Clearly written and persuasively argued, it makes a major contribution to a vital subject.” —Choice

From the Publisher

An excellent book that sheds needed light on the world's third thermonuclear power.

Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

...a work of record...written with zest, narrative drive and a manifest affection for those men behind the Aldermaston wire.

Financial Times

Clearly written and persuasively argued,it makes a major contribution to a vital subject.

Choice

An excellent book that sheds needed light on the world's third thermonuclear power.

Having become the third nuclear power in 1952, Britain also was the first besides the two superpowers to acquire the hydrogen bomb, in 1957. Arnold (Institute of Physics and Institute of Contemporary British History) explores the nuclear weapons program, how it was carried out and by whom. To explain why more is known about the US and even the Soviet programs than about the British, she points to the many crucial meetings and discussions that went unrecorded and the many files that have been destroyed either deliberately or inadvertently. Her final section is on the four weapon trials in the Pacific during 1957 and 1958. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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