Air Particle Measurement

“The Cold War . . . was a fight to the death,” notes Thomas C. Reed, “fought with bayonets, napalm, and high-tech weaponry of every sort—save one. It was not fought with nuclear weapons.” With global powers now engaged in cataclysmic encounters, there is no more important time for this essential, epic account of the past half century, the tense years when the world trembled At the Abyss. Written by an author who rose from military officer to administration insider, this is a vivid, unvarnished view of America’s fight against Communism, from the end of WWII to the closing of the Strategic Air Command, a work as full of human interest as history, rich characters as bloody conflict.Among the unforgettable figures who devised weaponry, dictated policy, or deviously spied and subverted: Whittaker Chambers—the translator whose book, Witness, started the hunt for bigger game: Communists in our government; Lavrenti Beria—the head of the Soviet nuclear weapons program who apparently killed Joseph Stalin; Col. Ed Hall—the leader of America’s advanced missile system, whose own brother was a Soviet spy; Adm. James Stockwell—the prisoner of war and eventual vice presidential candidate who kept his terrible secret from the Vietnamese for eight long years; Nancy Reagan—the “Queen of Hearts,” who was both loving wife and instigator of palace intrigue in her husband’s White House.From Eisenhower’s decision to beat the Russians at their own game, to the “Missile Gap” of the Kennedy Era, to Reagan’s vow to “lean on the Soviets until they go broke”—all the pivotal events of the period are portrayed in new and stunning detail with information only someone on the front lines and in backrooms could know.Yet At the Abyss is more than a riveting and comprehensive recounting. It is a cautionary tale for our time, a revelation of how, “those years . . . came to be known as the Cold War, not World War III.”From the Hardcover edition.

Amazon Sales Rank: #644012 in Books Published on: 2005-03-01 Released on: 2005-03-01 Original language: English Number of items: 1 Dimensions: 5.47" h x .83" w x 8.15" l, .69 pounds Binding: Paperback 400 pages

Amazon.com Review Thomas Reed is certainly one of the most qualified people alive to tell the real story of the Cold War. He worked at Livermore Labs as early as 1959 and was involved in designing and testing nuclear weapons, he served as Secretary of the Air Force, Director of the National Reconnaissance Office, Assistant to the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Defense, and as a Special Assistant to President Reagan for National Security Policy. Even when he was not directly involved in shaping policy, he was studying and lecturing on the subject. At the Abyss is the result of his remarkable experience, and it is as fascinating as it is terrifying, for he reveals just how close the world came on many occasions to experiencing the horror of global nuclear war. The book is filled with intrigue and revelations as he sheds new light on even relatively well-known events, such as the Cuban Missile Crisis. Here he reveals that as many as 98 nuclear weapons were located in Cuba, not ! just a few as originally thought. He also reports on what transpired during closed meetings at the highest levels of government and how often events threatened to spiral out of control. He details how the information age and "the economic facts of life" eventually doomed the Soviet Union, offers personal reflections on Ron and Nancy Reagan, tells how Dick Cheney and Colin Powell "coaxed the nuclear genie back into the bottle," and how the steadfast "closers," George H. W. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev, calmly and carefully brought the Cold War to a close without bloodshed and chaos---a conclusion that would have seemed inconceivable just a decade before. Even readers well acquainted with Cold War history will find much to learn in these pages. --Shawn Carkonen From Publishers Weekly This informative if sometimes partisan account of the author's career in public life focuses on the Cold War's nuclear confrontation. Reed worked as an air force officer with early computers, as a consultant to the Livermore Laboratory's production of thermonuclear weapons and eventually as Ronald Reagan's secretary of the air force. He hammers at the themes of the evils of communism, the stark horror of nuclear war and, surprisingly, the conscientious work of his Soviet counterparts whose nightmarish memories of WWII helped them to keep their weapons safe and their world intact. The author spent a good deal of time in Republican politics, but is not uncritical of the men (and women; see his sharp-eyed portrait of Nancy Reagan) with whom he was associated. He reserves his highest respect for the physicists (including Edward Teller) and the uniformed personnel on both sides who devoted and sometimes lost their lives to an effort to keep a fragile peace. The writing is sometimes discursive if seldom dull, and some areas have already been adequately covered by others. But the book deserves quite high marks for how much it pulls together, as well as offering a viewpoint on the Cold War not nearly sufficiently well-represented in the public literature: that neither the U.S. nor Soviet sciences were dominated by stereotypical, bomb-happy maniacs. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From Booklist A cold warrior on whom Whittaker Chambers' Witness (1952) made a "lasting impression," Reed spent much of his career developing the U.S. nuclear weapons complex. In his memoir, he tells how he managed the reentry vehicle design for the Minuteman missile; worked on hydrogen bombs at Lawrence Livermore Laboratory; watched a 1962 test explosion of his handiwork; and fine-tuned the communications system by which a president would launch a nuclear weapon. Reed also was active in Republican Party politics; he was secretary of the air force under Ford and an NSC staffer under Reagan. In addition to his anecdotes from the technical and political realms (including a gossipy chapter on Nancy Reagan), Reed also covers a variety of cold war contretemps. Sharp changes in subject matter give Reed's work a compositional fitfulness that could limit its accessibility to those well versed in cold war military history. But as a nuclear weaponeer's look back, Reed's I-was-there verisimilitude about the secretive nuclear world may enlarge the audience for his recollections. Gilbert TaylorCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Most helpful customer reviews 32 of 32 people found the following review helpful. Reed's Abyss is a real "page turner". By Brian A. Hathaway This fascinating book is a must read for those who have "been there" during the Cold War and also for those for whom it is just a part of history. I found the book compelling and exciting, although I wouldn't characterize it as a comprehensive history as much as a memoir of one who viewed the struggle between the U.S. and the Soviet Union from several significant perspectives.Three salient points came to mind as I read this book. First, the Cold War was as real a struggle as any of the "hotter" wars in our history. In the early 1970's, I served as an Aircraft Maintenance Officer in SAC. I remember looking across the flightline during the 1973 Yom Kippur War at over 120 hydrogen bombs and warheads being loaded for real when we went to DEFCON 3. My life was dictated by Green Dot Alerts, DEFCONS and Alert Postures, with the knowledge that we were only 30 minutes from nuclear anhiliation. I also remember the professionalism of those in SAC who held the "nuclear keys" and respected them for the responsibilities they had and the awesome decisions they may be called to make. Mr. Reed's portrayal of both sides' desire to avoid the ultimate conflict is comforting, even in hindsight.The second point I derived from the book is that the Cold War was finally won by our economic might. Interactions between nations have always been governed by economics, all the way back to our Revolutionary War, when the French sided with us in order to benefit from potential trade, and the Dutch bankers helped bankroll the War through loans to the Colonies. Mr. Reed's insights to the total lack of understanding the Soviets had regarding, cost, profit, and the law of supply and demand are particularly enlightening.The final point I found somewhat disquieting. Mr. Reed's discussion describing the amount of weapons grade uranium and plutonium sitting in the former Soviet Union, coupled with the desires of some nations and terrorist groups who are considerably less rational than the Soviet government and military was makes me wonder how long it will be before the next atmospheric "test" occurs over an American or European population center. Responding to this challenge is as important today as America's response to the Soviet Union was over fifty years ago.I invite you to read this book and find out for yourself. I think you will find it fascinating. 17 of 19 people found the following review helpful. At The Abyss By A.T. Lloyd Thomas C. Reed's book, At the Abyss, confirmed many of my suspicions and presents a plethora of substantiating data for my beliefs. The tidbits on titanium shovels, oil system computer chips, and specific individuals were most revealing.Of greatest importance was the dedication, resolve, and professionalism of the members of the Soviet Strategic Rocket Force and America's nuclear forces that brings an overwhelming calming to those who placed our fates in their hands.The purpose of At The Abyss was to give our generation a sense of closure, since there was no parade - Strategic Air Command just disappeared without fanfare.This book is written in bite-sized chapters that permit short-term assimilation, and long term rumination and retention capabilities. Mr. Reed's perspective and authoritative position make this work worth reading for any student of the Cold War. It was a distinct pleasure and honor to read this discourse on such an important subject.Alwyn T. LloydAuthor of A COLD WAR LEGACY - A Tribute to Strategic Air Command 1946-1992 13 of 14 people found the following review helpful. from a Cold Warrier By A Customer Tom Reed's book brought back the memories of those days in SAC when any one of a number of conditions could have unleashed the horror of multiple nuclear explosions. Fortunately, the wisdom and maturity of the right people at the right time evaded those conditons. And the