The Button, Tom Z. Collina
The Button, Tom Z. Collina
List: $19.99 | Sale: $13.99
Club: $9.99

The Button
The New Nuclear Arms Race and Presidential Power from Truman to Trump

Author: Tom Z. Collina, William J. Perry

Narrator: John Pruden

Unabridged: 8 hr 43 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Kalorama

Published: 08/25/2020

Synopsis

Since the Truman administration, America has been one "push of a button" away from nuclear war—a decision that rests solely in the hands of the president. Without waiting for approval from Congress or even the secretary of defense, the president can unleash America's entire nuclear arsenal.

From authors William J. Perry, secretary of defense in the Clinton administration, and Tom Z. Collina, the director of policy at Ploughshares Fund, a global security foundation in Washington, DC, The Button recounts the terrifying history of nuclear launch authority, from the faulty forty-six-cent microchip that nearly caused World War III to president Trump's tweet about his "much bigger & more powerful" button. Perry and Collina share their firsthand experience on the front lines of the nation's nuclear history and provide illuminating interviews with former president Bill Clinton, former secretary of defense Jim Mattis, congressman Adam Smith, Nobel Peace Prize winner Beatrice Fihn, senior Obama administration officials, and many others.

Written in an accessible and authoritative voice, The Button reveals the shocking tales and sobering facts of nuclear executive authority throughout the atomic age, delivering a powerful condemnation against ever leaving explosive power this devastating under any one person's thumb.

About Tom Z. Collina

Tom Z. Collina is the director of policy at Ploughshares Fund, a global security foundation in Washington, DC. He has thirty years of nuclear weapons policy experience and has testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and was closely involved with successful efforts to end US nuclear testing in 1992, extend the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1995, ratify the New START Treaty in 2010, and enact the Iran nuclear deal in 2015. Collina has published hundreds of articles, op-eds, and reports and appears frequently in major media.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Jonathan on October 27, 2020

I read this as part of an INMM book club at my university. First off, I’m a nuclear engineering grad student whose technical chops deal more with fission reactors than bombs; however, my university offers a really good nuclear security program that I have taken a class or two in. From a policy stand......more

Goodreads review by Josh on February 19, 2021

This is one of the most important books you will read this year. If the pandemic has taught us anything it is that the collective discounting of future threats cannot continue. Full of great information and arguments for why nukes are one of the largest threats to humanity today.......more

Goodreads review by Don on January 22, 2023

Generally speaking, I liked this book and agree with the ideas presented. But it was SO REPETITIVE. With better editing, I likely would have given it 4 or 5 stars.......more

Goodreads review by Dave on August 18, 2020

Nuclear weapons, as far as most Americans are concerned, are out of sight and out of mind. After all, the Cold War is long gone. The conflict may be over, but the weapons, strategy, policy and protocol are not gone. In this highly informative and objective book, Tom Collina and former Sec Def Bill P......more

Goodreads review by Ed on May 22, 2024

A remarkable book, written by two gentlemen who know their way around American military policy with an emphasis on nuclear weapons. Perry was Secretary of Defense under Bill Clinton, while Collina is a policy wonk focusing on nuclear arms at Ploughshares. They clearly wrote this book to argue for a......more

Add to Cart
Add to Wish List