History of U.S. Nuclear Testing and Its Influence on Nuclear Thought, 1945–1963

David M. Blades, PhD, is a researcher at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University, Melbourne.Joseph M. Siracusa is professor of human security and international diplomacy and deputy dean of global studies at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University, Australia. Chicago-born and raised, he is the author and coauthor of many books, including Real-World Nuclear Deterrence: The Making of International Strategy (with David G. Coleman); Nuclear Weapons: A Very Short Introduction; and A Global History of the Nuclear Arms Race: Weapons, Strategy, and Politics (with Richard Dean Burns).

• PrefaceChapter One: Truman, 1945-1952Chapter Two: The Normalisation of Nuclear TestingChapter Three: Eisenhower, 1952-1958Chapter Four: The Expansion and then Suspension of Nuclear TestingChapter Five: Kennedy, 1961-1963Chapter Six: The Limitation of Nuclear TestingConclusionBibliography

[The authors] effectively show the differing purposes of and attitudes toward testing that prevailed during the administrations of Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and John F. Kennedy. . . .Blades and Siracusa’s book is a useful guide to nuclear testing during a crucial period of the Cold War and the arms race.