Listen free for 30 days
Listen with offer
-
The Doomsday Machine
- Narrated by: Steven Cooper
- Length: 14 hrs and 34 mins
Failed to add items
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
£0.00 for first 30 days
The Doomsday Machine
Buy Now for £15.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Summary
At the same time former presidential advisor Daniel Ellsberg famously took the top-secret Pentagon Papers, he also took with him a chilling cache of top secret documents related to America's nuclear program in the 1960s. Here for the first time he reveals the contents of those documents and makes clear their shocking relevance for today.
The Doomsday Machine is Ellsberg's hair-raising insider's account of the most dangerous arms buildup in the history of civilization, whose legacy - and renewal under the Obama administration - threatens the very survival of humanity. It is scarcely possible to estimate the true dangers of our present nuclear policies without penetrating the secret realities of the nuclear strategy of the late Eisenhower and early Kennedy years, when Ellsberg had high-level access to them. No other insider has written so candidly of that long-classified history, and nothing has fundamentally changed since that era. Ellsberg's analysis of recent research on nuclear winter shows that even a 'small' nuclear exchange would cause billions of deaths by global nuclear famine. Ellsberg, in the end, offers steps we can take under a new administration to avoid nuclear catastrophe.
Framed as a memoir, this thriller with cloak-and-dagger intrigue places Ellsberg back in his natural role as whistle-blower. It is a real-life Dr. Strangelove story but an ultimately hopeful - and powerfully important - audiobook.
Listeners also enjoyed...
What listeners say about The Doomsday Machine
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 28-02-22
Appropriately horrifying
A must read for those who wish to understand what goes on behind the scenes in nuclear planning, or the world in general.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- AG
- 28-01-18
Terrifying
A truly terrifying book that I is without question a must read for all. highly recommended
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Craig
- 11-03-21
The Tragedy Of Truth.
Man is, man's worst enemy. It goes without saying that we will either die out as a race slowly due to our incapacity to deal with and resolve Climate Change.... or destroy and poison our planet through Nuclear confrontation and contamination. Resulting in a world of famine and lawlessness. We are such a sad sad animal. I hope this will change, I truly do, but unless Human Mankind can grasp the futility of our current paths then I fear we are doomed to wipe ourselves out... Including all our biodiversity. Good listen.... if you have the heart.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 01-06-18
Actually gave me nightmares.
this book cyrstalised all my assumptions and understanding of the futility of a nuclear arsenal and especially a First Strike capability. the author's insight is hugely enlightening and surprising if not shocking.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 05-05-20
Eye opening book
A harrowing account of one of the greatest dangers to human existence on earth and how close at times we have come to orchestrating our own destruction . Also shows the callous disregard for human life by the powers that be and their willingness to destroy humanity. The narrator was a bit monotonous at moments but it just emphasise the machine like perception of our demise, over all a very good listen.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall3 out of 5 stars
-
Performance2 out of 5 stars
-
Story3 out of 5 stars
- matt bowden
- 09-01-18
There really isn't much new in this
This is not really anything new in this and not as well written as the dead hand.
The narrator is awful - sounds like Google maps gps guidance.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall1 out of 5 stars
-
Performance1 out of 5 stars
-
Story1 out of 5 stars
- Leon Jones
- 23-03-24
Sounds like it’s being read by a computer
Couldn’t get past the full, listless reading style. Sounds like one of those US documentaries, narrated by somebody who had no interest or knowledge around what they are narrating.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall3 out of 5 stars
-
Performance1 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- Thad Beumont
- 24-01-18
Interesting book - hideous audiobook!
The subject of this book is really very interesting. He has had an interesting and varied career deep within the American apparatus behind the planning and organisation of the nuclear arsenal. He makes a compelling argument for why the oft quoted defense of "deterrence" for holding vast nuclear arsenal is a bit of a tautology.
However, the narrator is hideous. Truly awful. Utterly and totally unlistenable to. At several points, it is completely indistinguishable from a very poor synthesized voice. In fact, it's probably worse as he doesn't seem to be aware of punctuation or what it's for.
A shame, I have had to download the book to read and return the audio book purely because the narration is so awful
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
9 people found this helpful
-
Overall3 out of 5 stars
-
Performance1 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- MA KILLEEN
- 07-07-22
Partially automated narration
This is a book of great import and value, written by one of history’s most fascinating & conflicted individuals…however, the narration is partially automated and borders on unlistenable in places. It’s unbearable at 1.1x which is my default speed. There are any number of text to speech apps, but Audible should be better. This recording really isn’t.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!