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Well,
almost exclusively bad news, at least in terms of subject matter. These
picks cover the devastation of tsunamis, earthquakes and wildfires; the
Spanish flu epidemic of 1918; mass extinctions; the potential for
nuclear annihilation. Even the work of fiction included here is a
fantasy about imminent catastrophe. The good news is the eloquent and
haunting way in which these books are written.
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| The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner |
THE DOOMSDAY MACHINE: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner, by Daniel Ellsberg. (Bloomsbury, $30.)
When the Cold War ended in 1991, nuclear weapons vanished from the minds of most Americans. But Ellsberg, the former Defense Department analyst who leaked the Pentagon Papers, sounds an impassioned alarm, warning that the dangers of nuclear conflict remain.
When the Cold War ended in 1991, nuclear weapons vanished from the minds of most Americans. But Ellsberg, the former Defense Department analyst who leaked the Pentagon Papers, sounds an impassioned alarm, warning that the dangers of nuclear conflict remain.
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| The Ends of the World: Volcanic Apocalypses, Lethal Oceans, and Our Quest to Understand Earth's Past Mass Extinctions |
THE ENDS OF THE WORLD: Volcanic Apocalypses, Lethal Oceans, and Our Quest to Understand Earth’s Past Mass Extinctions, by Peter Brannen. (Ecco, $27.99.)
Earth has undergone five major mass extinctions and Brannen tells us about all the destruction in great detail.
Earth has undergone five major mass extinctions and Brannen tells us about all the destruction in great detail.
