Nuclear Weapons: A Very Short Introduction

• An accessible and eye-opening background to the most deadly weapon ever invented
• Examines important and recurring questions about the role of nuclear weapons in modern-day international relations
• Explores the history of the early arms races, through the dawn of nuclear deterrence politics, the Cold War, to what may lie ahead for us in the future
• Takes a thoroughly up-to-date view, examining contemporary controversies such as the US National Missile Defence system and Star Wars, and the threat and role of nuclear weapons in global terrorism
• The author's background in international relations puts some of the most important and enduring problems of nuclear weapons policy over the past 60 years into an historical and global context

Readership: Anyone from the general reader, to students, journalists, and policy makers requiring an accessible introduction to nuclear weapons - the race to develop them, and their impact on international relations over sixty years.

Joseph M. Siracusa, Professor in International Studies and Director of Global Studies, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology

Preface
1: What are Nuclear Weapons?
2: Building the Bomb
3: "A Choice between the Quick and the Dead"
4: Race for the H-Bomb
5: Nuclear Deterrence and Arms Control
6: Star Wars
7: Nuclear Weapons in the Age of Terrorism
References & Further Reading

Nuclear Weapons: A Very Short Introduction - a reading guide