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Remember when the government shoved leaflets through our doors showing us how to survive a nuclear attack by constructing a shelter out of doors and sandbags? When Top of the Pops featured bands singing about atomic armageddon rather than broken hearts? And what about those terrifying nuclear war films?
Nuclear paranoia has been around as long as the bomb itself and has enjoyed a colossal influence on popular culture. Films like Dr Strangelove, The War Game and Threads played out our worst fears. The bomb has also been featured in pop songs like Two Tribes and television shows from The Simpsons to The Young Ones.
The authorities offered civil defence advice in the Protect & Survive leaflet, expertly satirised in the cartoon When The Wind Blows. Stand-offs like the Cuban missile crisis and nuclear power station disasters had us holding our breath, as did reports of accidents involving nuclear warheads.
This book is a history of the bomb and how it’s scared us to death.
As well as an introductory essay, this Pocket Essential includes an analysis of the effects of significant moments in nuclear history including Hiroshima & Nagasaki, the Cuban missile crisis, Chernobyl and Star Wars. Plus reviews and analysis of nuclear war films and other instances of nuke paranoia in pop music, television, literature and fashion. It also features key interviews with Martin Amis and Karen Meagher, along with profiles of crucial figures in atomic history including Oppenheimer, Thatcher and Reagan.
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