THE DAY WE LOST THE H-BOMB: COLD WAR, HOT NUKES, AND THE WORST NUCLEAR WEAPONS DISASTER IN HISTORY
Book ID/图书代码： 01240008B29434
English Summary/英文概要： In The Day We Lost the H-Bomb, science writer Barbara Moran marshals a wealth of new information and recently declassified material to give the definitive account of the Cold War’s biggest nuclear weapons disaster. On January 17, 1966, a U.S. Air Force B-52 bomber exploded over the sleepy Spanish farming village of Palomares during a routine airborne refueling. The explosion killed seven airmen and scattered the bomber’s payload–four unarmed thermonuclear bombs–across miles of coastline. Three of the rogue H-bombs were recovered quickly. Tracking down the fourth required the largest search-and-salvage operation in U.S. military history. Moran traces the roots of the Palomares incident, giving a brief yet in-depth history of the Strategic Air Command and its eccentric, larger-than-life commander, General Curtis LeMay, whose massive deterrence strategy kept armed U.S. bombers aloft at all times. Back on the ground, Moran recounts the myriad social and environmental effects of an accident that spread radioactive debris over hundreds of acres of Spanish farmland, alarmed America’s strategic allies, and damaged Spanish-American diplomatic relations.
As the American military floundered in its attempt to keep the story secret, the events in Spain sometimes took on farcical overtones. Constant global media hype was fueled by the hit James Bond movie Thunderball, with its plot about an atomic weapon lost at sea. In addition, there were the unwanted attentions of a rusty- hulled Soviet surveillance ship and even awkward public relations stunts, complete with American diplomats in swim trunks.
The Day We Lost the H-Bomb is a singular work of military history that effortlessly and dramatically captures Cold War hysteria, high-stakes negotiations, and the race to clean up a disaster of unprecedented scope. At once epic and intimate, this book recounts in stunning detail the fragile peace Americans had made with nuclear weapons–and how the specter of imminent doom forced the United States to consider not only what had happened over Palomares but what could have happened. This forgotten chapter of Cold War history will grip readers with the tension of that time and reawaken the fears and hopes of that dangerous era.
Chinese Summary/中文概要： 在《我們失去氫彈的那一日》這本書中，科學作家芭芭拉·莫蘭重新整理了大量的最新資訊和最近解密的材料，以呈現給讀者一部冷戰時期，最大的一次核武器災難的，權威性證據。1966年1月17日，美國空軍 B-52 轟炸機在例行的飛機空中加油時，意外地在位於西班牙的馬雷斯一座寧靜的村莊上空發生了爆炸。爆炸炸死了七名飛行員，而散落的轟炸機負載著四枚沒有任何防護措施的熱核炸彈，這些炸彈散落於幾英裏的海岸線。其中三枚散落的氫彈很快被尋回。而追蹤尋找第四枚散落的炸彈成為了美國軍事史上最大規模的一次搜索和打撈救助行動。
本書的作者莫蘭跟蹤馬雷斯事件，向讀者提供了一個簡明扼要的事件介紹，不僅如此，作者還深入調研當時戰略空軍司令部和其一反常態的舉動，當時的傳奇指揮官，柯蒂斯·勒梅將軍，時刻保持著美國轟炸機在空中所佔據的巨大威懾戰略作用。隨後作者返回到現實世界中，莫蘭重新列舉了因為事故所引發的各種社會和環境影響，以及這次事故所導致的大面積放射性碎片輻射，波及到西班牙的數百英畝農田，震驚了當時的美國戰略盟友，並直至破壞了美國與西班牙的外交關係。
因為美國軍事戰略部署的需要，在其試圖保守這個秘密的同時，西班牙發生的這起意外事件卻不時地頻添了幾分滑稽的色彩。全球媒體不斷炒作，為頗受大眾歡迎的詹姆斯·邦德007電影提供了原料，籍此誕生了《霹靂彈》，其大概情節講述的是一枚原子彈在海上的離奇失蹤。此外，這起事件還受到一艘前蘇聯生銹破舊的偵查船的意外注意，甚至是尷尬的公關特技，連同包裹在泳褲下的美國外交官都讓這起事件淪為了一場徹頭徹尾的鬧劇。
《我們失去氫彈的那一日》是一部非凡的軍事歷史巨作，作者毫不費力地和戲劇性地撲捉了冷戰期間，大國之間的那種歇斯底里的興奮、和那時不顧風險的談判磋商，以及一場規模空前的核武器競賽災難。同時這部具有史詩般氣質和親民的著作，用驚人的細節詳細敘述了美國想利用擁有核武器來維繫的脆落和平，以及即將來臨的毀滅噩夢是如何迫使美國不僅要考慮到在馬雷斯到底發生了什麼，還要想到事後所造成的後果。這段被人們遺忘的冷戰歷史篇章將會吸引讀者深入至當時的緊張局勢，重新喚起人們對於那個危險時代的恐懼和希望。(Sandy)
Awards/获奖情况：
About the Author/作者介绍： 芭芭拉·莫蘭是一位發表過許多作品的，屢獲殊榮的科學記者，她的文章經常刊登在雜誌《新科學家》，《技術創業》和《波士頓環球報》上。她的名字經常在電視紀錄片中出現，包括美國公共廣播公司 PBS 系列的《前線》、《美國歷史》和《諾威》，以及《歷史和探索頻道》。作為聖母大學的一名研究生，和波士頓大學的科學和醫學報告研究課程的研究生，她在2001年收到了麻省理工學院的騎士科學新聞獎助金。她與丈夫和兒子住在波士頓。Barbara Moran is an award-winning science journalist who has written for many publications, including New Scientist, Invention & Technology, Technology Review and the Boston Globe. Her television documentary credits include the PBS series Frontline, The American Experience and NOVA, as well as the History and Discovery Channels. A graduate of the University of Notre Dame and Boston University’s graduate program in science and medical reporting, she received a Knight Science Journalism Fellowship at MIT in 2001. She lives in Boston with her husband and son.
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