100,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock πŸ‡³πŸ‡Ώ

Overnight NZ-wide delivery on in-stock orders πŸš€

Eve of Destruction

The inside story of our dangerous nuclear world
3.85 goodreads logo

Ratings/reviews counts are updated frequently.

Check link for latest rating.
( 67 ratings, 9 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Eve of Destruction by John Hughes-Wilson delves into the critical moments and decisions that shaped the course of military history. It examines the pivotal events that almost led to catastrophe and destruction, offering insights into the strategies, errors, and bravery involved. This historical exploration illuminates both the precariousness and resilience found in military conflicts.
Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
TEMPORARILY OUT OF STOCK Please add to wishlist to be notified when back in stock

Sorry, we're currently out of stock of Eve of Destruction. Please add to your Wishlist and we'll send you an email as soon as it's back in stock.

Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might enjoy this book if you have an interest in detailed historical and military analysis. The work delves into the strategic decisions and events that shaped pivotal moments in history, providing an insightful perspective on how battles and leadership have influenced the world. If you appreciate an in-depth exploration of military strategy and its historical impact, this book could be a captivating read for you.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

Leading military historian, John Hughes-Wilson exposes just how close we have come to genuine nuclear disaster, military and civilian, on many occasions.

Leading military historian, John Hughes-Wilson exposes just how close we have come to genuine nuclear disaster, military and civilian, on many occasions.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

'It is certainly a good thing for the world that Hitler's crowd or Stalin's did not discover this atomic bomb. It seems to be the most terrible thing ever discovered' - US President Harry S. Truman

Truman evidently understood the terrifying power of atomic weaponry, but no one could have realised its full potential when he ordered the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. Those military attacks, along with the disasters at the Fukushima and Chernobyl nuclear reactors, might immediately spring to mind at the mention of nuclear destruction, but the vast majority of the events recorded in this book are entirely unknown to most people. This book records the factsβ€”many of them still shrouded in secrecyβ€”which show a worrying truth: we have teetered precariously on the brink of Armageddon far more frequently than the general public realises.

Since that first and last atomic war in 1945, there have been a terrifying number of nuclear accidents and mishaps, from the careless or accidental to the genuinely intentional and only narrowly averted. Despite the catastrophic nature of any nuclear conflict, we have come to the very borders of such a situation ten times since the 1960s. Most people know about the Cuba Missile Crisis, and a few about Operation Able Archer in 1984, which, if anything, was even more frightening than Cuba, but there have been eight other occasions that might easily have toppled over into outright war. These were potential conflicts; but there have been other accidents, such as the reactor meltdown at the nuclear generating plant at Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania, in 1979, or the 'Palomares Incident' in 1966, when a USAF B-52 bomber crashed after a mid-air collision, dropping four hydrogen bombs on Spanish soil...

Eve of Destruction is a warning from historyβ€”recent history. It is a call to sit up and listen, and to take note of the very real danger of nuclear catastrophe. It is a timely and important book because, after all, the future of our planet has to concern us all.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781789464177

Publisher: John Blake Publishing Ltd

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 03 March 2022

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: John Blake Publishing Ltd

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 25.0mm

Width: 129.0mm

Height: 197.0mm

Weight: 310g

Pages: 400

About the Author

During his twenty-five years in the Intelligence Corps and as a Special Forces operations officer, Colonel John Hughes Wilson saw active service in the Falkland Islands, Cyprus, Arabia, and Northern Ireland, as well as in the dangerous jungles of Whitehall and NATO. One of Britain's leading military historians, he is the author, among other books, of JFK: An American Coup d'Etat (John Blake, 2013) and the Imperial War Museum's A History of the First World War in 100 Objects (2014); his much reprinted book Intelligence Blunders was found at Osama Bin Laden's bedside and has become a CIA textbook. He has also been a frequent broadcaster for BBC television and radio.

Also by John Hughes-Wilson

View all
  • JFK – The Conspiracy and Truth Behind the Assassination
    Ever since President John F. Kennedy was gunned down in Dallas fifty years ago, various theories have swirled around what was a key event in American - and world - history. Whatever the conclusions of the US official Warren Report - that the President had been assassinated by a lone gunman, Lee Harvey Oswald - many people doubt that to...
    Paperback
    $2799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Military Intelligence Blunders
    A cracking good read... I will recommend this book to anyone - Professor Richard Holmes, CBE The Falklands, Yom Kippur, Tet and Pearl Harbor? Avoidable intelligence blunders or much worse? Altogether a compelling read from someone who knows the business - Nigel West Military Intelligence Blunders is a professional military-intelligence officer's - and controversial insider's - view of some of...
    Paperback
    $3299
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks

More from History & Military

View all
  • Saving Elli
    One child. Two years in hiding. Three lives in mortal danger. In Nazi-occupied Amsterdam, near Anne Frank's house, another Jewish girl is hidden. Her name is Elli. Her father has been executed at Mauthausen concentration camp. Her mother is fleeing for her life. Elli is next. To save her, resistance couple Frits and Jo Hakkens must risk everything, concealing her...
    Paperback
    $3299
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • The Spy and the Traitor
    The Spy and the Traitor by Ben Macintyre is a spellbinding Cold War thriller that unravels the true story of Oleg Gordievsky, a KGB double agent who risked everything to aid the British in the battle against Soviet oppression. In meticulously researched detail, Macintyre paints a vivid portrait of espionage, double-crossing, and unparalleled bravery, giving readers a riveting glimpse into...
    Paperback
    $2100
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    (2)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • New Release
    Suicidal Empathy
    The bestselling author of The Parasitic Mind shows why empathy in politics leads to civilizational collapse. What happens when a society elevates victimhood to a virtue and decides that punishment is cruel? You get the disease Dr. Gad Saad calls suicidal empathy. And the West may be terminally infected. In his new book, Suicidal Empathy, Saad unleashes a blistering critique...
    Paperback
    $3099
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Man's Search For Meaning
    Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl is a profound, thought-provoking memoir and psychological exploration that delves into the harrowing experiences of life in Nazi concentration camps, intertwined with the author’s groundbreaking theories on existential psychology. The book is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit, offering a beacon of hope and a roadmap for finding purpose...
    Paperback
    $1800
    Elsewhere:
    $2100
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Betrayal
    β€˜Tom Bower is the Inspector Morse of investigative biographers, a fluent, phlegmatic storyteller and a master of intricacies.’ Sunday Times The British Crown is in crisis, with constitutional threats at home and abroad. At a landmark moment in royal history, can King Charles overcome the scandals that blight the Royal family? Can the broken bonds between the Houses of Sussex...
    Paperback
    $3499
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Signed
    New Release
    The Chief and the Empire
    The Chief and the Empire uncovers the extraordinary true tale of Te Tai Tokerau rangatira Te Pahi - the first influential Māori leader to cross the Tasman - whose curiosity about the Pākehā world forged alliances, saved lives, and ultimately cost him his own. On a visit to Sydney in 1805, Te Pahi was feted as a celebrity, building close...
    Paperback
    $3200
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Discipline
    Silence is complicity, but how do we confront the cost of speaking up? Sydney, May 2021. Ashraf is an academic whose career and personal life are in freefall. Hannah is a young journalist struggling to honour the voices of her community. When a Year 12 Al-Bayinnah College student is arrested for protesting a university's ties to an Israeli weapons manufacturer,...
    Paperback
    $4000
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Shattered Lands
    'A sparkling debut by an outstanding young historian' – PETER FRANKOPAN 'This book is a revelation … both original and important' – MISHAL HUSAIN A history of modern South Asia told through five partitions that reshaped it. As recently as 1928, a vast swathe of Asia – India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Burma, Nepal, Bhutan, Yemen, Oman, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, and...
    Paperback
    $3699
    Elsewhere:
    $4500
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Goliath’s Curse
    Goliath’s Curse by Luke Kemp offers a radical retelling of human history through the lens of collapse, delving into what this means for our uncertain future. This narrative spans from the dawn of our species to the urgent existential threats of the twenty-first century and beyond. It's grounded in the latest research and a comprehensive database of more than 440...
    Paperback
    $2999
    Elsewhere:
    $4000
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • New Release
    The Good Settler
    β€˜Where once I saw a view as I drove around the Taranaki coast along State Highway 45, I now see confiscated land from an invasion road. The creation story I used to subscribe to, the one in which hard-working people came here and settled the land, now jars. Weirdly, even the lawn looks different. The form of things just won’t...
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Banjara
    A powerful literary debut from an astonishing new Kiwi voice, focusing on the Indo-Fijian indenture system and how it affected generations across the Pacific.Rajasthan 1888: Avani Rathod, a nomad of the Banjara community, is summoned to teach a blue-eyed colonial officer the trees of her region, but instead is misled into indenture to the sugarcane plantations of Fiji. While on...
    Paperback
    $3099
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    (2)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • This Way Up
    The debut book from the YouTube sensation and all-round cartographical nerds, The Map Men! In their long-awaited debut, YouTube’s Map Men bring their highly infectious enthusiasm for everything map-related to the printed page for the very first time, in a brilliantly entertaining and eye-catching tome. Packed with humour and fascinating facts, This Way Up takes a deep dive into the...
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.