MADreads

Is “no nukes” possible?

May 24th, 2007 Sarah - Alicia Ashman

The other day I read a review of of William Langewiesche’s new nonfiction book, The Atomic Bazaar: The Rise of the Nuclear Poor, and one sentence in particular caught my attention:

“The most alarming thing about ‘The Atomic Bazaar’ is its utter lack of alarmism.”

And that’s about right.  I’ve read the book (yes, I know you’re supposed to read the review first, but I’m always doing things backwards), and marveled at the author’s clarity, particularly considering the stories he tells: in one chapter, he explores how nuclear bombs actually work.  In the next, he considers how the required knowledge and components to build a bomb could be obtained by rogue nations or groups; then he gives a history of Pakistan’s development of nuclear weapons. 

So how does he manage to explore these topics with such calm?  Well, frankly, I don’t know how he manages to do that.  But it was a relief to read a nonfiction book on an important subject that wasn’t simply preaching to a choir already in place.  He’s got a talent for providing nuanced discussions of complex and controversial subjects: in Cutting for Sign, he examined illegal immigration; in The Outlaw Sea he explained the lawlessness and piracy still rampant on the world’s oceans.

Entry Filed under: Nonfiction