The burgeoning of global connectivity in recent decades is without historical parallel and the 'wiring up' of the world continues apace; even in the poorest regions. Flux and ever-quickening change are the leitmotifs of the 'information age' across a swathe of human enterprise from industry and commerce through to politics and social relations. This is no less the case for the patterns of war; where change has been disorientating for soldiers and statesmen whose confidence in the old; the traditional; and the known has been shaken. David Betz's book explains the huge and disruptive implications of connectivity for the practice of warfare. The tactical ingenuity of opponents to confound or drop below the threshold of sophisticated weapons systems means war remains the realm of chance and probability. Increasingly; though; the conflicts of our time are less contests of arms than wars of hearts and minds conducted on a mass scale through multimedia communications networks. The most pernicious challengers to the status quo are not states but ever more powerful non-state actors.
#34801 in Books Brown Kate 2015-08-01 2015-08-01Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 6.10 x 1.30 x 9.10l; .0 #File Name: 0190233109416 pagesPlutopia Nuclear Families Atomic Cities and the Great Soviet and American Plutonium Disasters
Review
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Who can make a bigger Plutonium disaster mess in their country?By Mitchell I. BonnerBoth the United States and the Soviet Union built Plutonium manufacturing plants and their supporting cities. This book talks about the building of these plants; the elite way of life of the scientists and technicians that lived in these cities compared to their other country men; the nuclear accidents and disasters that contaminated the surrounding countrysides; and the long term adverse effects still taking place today.8 of 8 people found the following review helpful. Well-researched and writtenBy travelin'manKate Brown has done the almost impossible; using vast files of information long classified in America and the former USSR to plumb the depths of the secrecy and the cover-ups involved in the pursuit of plutonium for weapons production. While some Americans as well as Russians dispute the accidents and cover-ups; one can only surmise that they were so patriotically blinded by their participation as to deny anything which besmirched their remembrances of the programs and their lives in the secret cities. Some of the evidence; to be sure; is anecdotal; however Brown has managed to document her assertions and is to be commended as a brave historian for attacking an investigation into a part of history that many would wish to remain unknown. Having spent a good part of the past 20 years traveling in Russia and seeing the fear of contemporary Russians that the walls still "have ears" demonstrates the degree of difficulty Brown must have had to gain the confidence of people there in telling this story; not to mention similar challenges in the U.S.; particularly among people still residing in and near Hanford.3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. History the US government would rather forget..By Rya HawksThis book is an interesting; illuminating read that details the negligence of American and Russian government nuclear programs and their reckless dumping of radionuclides into unwitting nearby communities. This book does an excellent job documenting how the US and Russian governments "handled" the exposure of their citizens and their various attempts to ignore and bully sick workers and citizens into quiet submission.If you are from an Eastern Washington family and you wonder why half of the people in your family over the age of 50 have had thyroid cancer.... tragically this book might be of interest to you.
