A Fiery Peace in a Cold War: Bernard Schriever and the Ultimate Weapon

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A Fiery Peace in a Cold War: Bernard Schriever and the Ultimate Weapon

by Neil Sheehan

3.68 · rating details · 96 ratings · 36 reviews

From Neil Sheehan, author of the Pulitzer Prize—winning classic A Bright Shining Lie, comes this long-awaited, magnificent epic. Here is the never-before-told story of the nuclear arms race that changed history–and of the visionary American Air Force officer Bernard Schriever, who led the high-stakes effort. A Fiery Peace in a Cold War is a masterly work about Schriever’s ...moreFrom Neil Sheehan, author of the Pulitzer Prize—winning classic A Bright Shining Lie, comes this long-awaited, magnificent epic. Here is the never-before-told story of the nuclear arms race that changed history–and of the visionary American Air Force officer Bernard Schriever, who led the high-stakes effort. A Fiery Peace in a Cold War is a masterly work about Schriever’s quests to prevent the Soviet Union from acquiring nuclear superiority, to penetrate and exploit space for America, and to build the first weapons meant to deter an atomic holocaust rather than to be fired in anger.

Sheehan melds biography and history, politics and science, to create a sweeping narrative that transports the reader back and forth from individual drama to world stage. The narrative takes us from Schriever’s boyhood in Texas as a six-year-old immigrant from Germany in 1917 through his apprenticeship in the open-cockpit biplanes of the Army Air Corps in the 1930s and his participation in battles against the Japanese in the South Pacific during the Second World War. On his return, he finds a new postwar bipolar universe dominated by the antagonism between the United States and the Soviet Union.

Inspired by his technological vision, Schriever sets out in 1954 to create the one class of weapons that can enforce peace with the Russians–intercontinental ballistic missiles that are unstoppable and can destroy the Soviet Union in thirty minutes. In the course of his crusade, he encounters allies and enemies among some of the most intriguing figures of the century: John von Neumann, the Hungarian-born mathematician and mathematical physicist, who was second in genius only to Einstein; Colonel Edward Hall, who created the ultimate ICBM in the Minuteman missile, and his brother, Theodore Hall, who spied for the Russians at Los Alamos and hastened their acquisition of the atomic bomb; Curtis LeMay, the bomber general who tried to exile Schriever and who lost his grip on reality, amassing enough nuclear weapons in his Strategic Air Command to destroy the entire Northern Hemisphere; and Hitler’s former rocket maker, Wernher von Braun, who along with a colorful, riding-crop-wielding Army general named John Medaris tried to steal the ICBM program.

The most powerful men on earth are also put into astonishing relief: Joseph Stalin, the cruel, paranoid Soviet dictator who spurred his own scientists to build him the atomic bomb with threats of death; Dwight Eisenhower, who backed the ICBM program just in time to save it from the bureaucrats; Nikita Khrushchev, who brought the world to the edge of nuclear catastrophe during the Cuban Missile Crisis, and John Kennedy, who saved it.

Schriever and his comrades endured the heartbreak of watching missiles explode on the launching pads at Cape Canaveral and savored the triumph of seeing them soar into space. In the end, they accomplished more than achieving a fiery peace in a cold war. Their missiles became the vehicles that opened space for America.(less)

Hardcover, 496 pages

Published September 22nd 2009 by Random House (first published September 21st 2009)

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New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2009

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Aug 11, 2009

Jonathan rated it

Shelves: 20th-century-america, advance-reading-copy, first-reads, uncorrected-page-proofs

This sprawling chronicle is the story of the intercontinental ballistic missile -- its background in the Manhattan project, conception in the first years of the Cold War, creation in the late 1950s, and refinement to terrifying reliability and ubiquity by 1970. The book also covers the earliest years of the American space program, which grew out of military rocketry. The core protagonist is Bernard Shriever, an engineer from Texas who rose to the rank of full general in the US Air Force. Appoi...moreThis sprawling chronicle is the story of the intercontinental ballistic missile -- its background in the Manhattan project, conception in the first years of the Cold War, creation in the late 1950s, and refinement to terrifying reliability and ubiquity by 1970. The book also covers the earliest years of the American space program, which grew out of military rocketry. The core protagonist is Bernard Shriever, an engineer from Texas who rose to the rank of full general in the US Air Force. Appointed by Hap Arnold shortly after World War II as head of a new air force research branch, Shriever struggled to coordinate the efforts of scientists, generals, and politicians to secure technical superiority for the United States. These secondary characters constitute more than a supporting cast; they frequently take over the show. Always, however, the narrative returns to Shriever as the one figure with the patience and management ability to see his projects to completion.

A curious tension runs through the book. On the one hand, Sheehan is sharply critical of almost every aspect of American policy. From the beginning, he argues, the United States misjudged both the intentions and the abilities of the Soviet Union. American politicians chose, sometimes sincerely and sometimes deliberately, to perpetuate an unnecessary frenzy of public fear. This climate led them to develop unstoppable weapons of unconscionable destructive power, "hellish" devices that were supposed to prevent the destruction of the United States but that also placed enormous power in trigger-happy hands.

On the other hand, Sheehan clearly admires many of his characters for their patriotism as well as their brilliance, and he tacitly agrees that a form of mutual assured destruction was an inevitable, and perhaps even the best possible, policy. This book thus has a strong Niebuhrian feel. Sheehan sees the arms race as a tragedy that bred execrable hubris and hatred in many people, but he also praises those who tried modestly to find the least unacceptable way through it. In other words, I think, the author honors those who could tell the difference between strategy and tactics. A stark contrast emerges between Shriever and one of his nemeses, Gen. Curtis LeMay, who saw nuclear war as an occasion for thrilling action by bomber pilots and who seemed to have no concept of overkill. Bernard Shriever saw from the start that the whole point of the ICBM was to make open nuclear warfare inconceivable, not winnable; Sheehan honors him for it.

In fact, someone like the traitor Ted Hall, who passed early secrets from Los Alamos to the Soviets in hopes of balancing out American nuclear superiority, seems quite sympathetic in this book. This leads me to a paradox lurking within the tension I described above. Sheehan admires sang froid, yes, but he also admires zeal. He veers between lavishing praise on technocrats and showering admiration on dreamers, including dreamers from whom he differs.

For example, Sheehan seems to like Johnny von Neumann, a brilliant Hungarian mathematician. This is despite the fact that Von Neumann advocated preventive atomic war against the Soviets, which is clearly an idea Sheehan loathes. Yet Sheehan loses no love on Werner von Braun, the former architect of the Nazi rocket program who didn't seem to care what his missiles landed on as long as they landed accurately. Von Neumann was mistaken, in Sheehan's estimation, but Von Braun was amoral. In addition, Sheehan relishes the temerity of American officers who talked back to their superiors and who wrangled funding from tightfisted bureaucrats and committeemen. Fixity of principle apparently counts for a lot with this author.

All in all, then, the central virtue championed in this book is courage. Sheehan derides any sign of panic. In his account, the Cold War began because the United States was unnecessarily frightened of the Soviets; the American military-industrial complex then overproduced planes and missiles by a factor of 100 because of wild stories about Soviet power. Sheehan also praises any sign of fortitude. He sees Shriever as a hero because he didn't flinch in the face of bullying by generals or politicians; he sees John F. Kennedy as a hero because he kept his cool during the Cuban Missile Crisis when everyone around him wanted to unleash war -- and because he was willing to risk war with Khrushchev. Sheehan's position on the Missile Crisis is more than a little unbalanced. But it is consistent with his general admiration for people who hold firm in difficult circumstances.

I'm not sure it would be possible to resolve these tensions and still do justice to the inside of the story. None of these characters was a monster, however much some of them struggled with private demons; to show them as full human beings means producing an ambiguous account. Neil Sheehan has done this admirably.

Full disclosure: I solicited and received a free advance copy of this book from the publisher through the first reads program at Goodreads.com.(less)

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Nov 22, 2010

Ed rated it

I guess I am still a bit of a military nerd and so I loved this book and read it very quickly. But Sheehan wrote one of the seminal books about Vietnam A Bright Shining Lie and so this is a very interesting probing account of the Cold War through the lens of its main weapons programs. Told by someone who had used access to former Soviet archives by Russian historians to see how much irrational fear of Soviet expansionism existed, along with ignorance of just how evil Stalin had been in the 1930s...more

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Jul 09, 2010

Charles Matthews rated it

I very much admired Sheehan's A Bright Shining Lie, which won him the Pulitzer Prize. So when Random House sent me this review copy I kept it, instead of donating it to the public library the way I do with most of the review copies I'm sent. I don't think it got much review attention -- at least I didn't notice it.

One reason may be that this is a less successful book than A Bright Shining Lie, though it takes the same approach: viewing a major period in American history through the...moreI very much admired Sheehan's A Bright Shining Lie, which won him the Pulitzer Prize. So when Random House sent me this review copy I kept it, instead of donating it to the public library the way I do with most of the review copies I'm sent. I don't think it got much review attention -- at least I didn't notice it.

One reason may be that this is a less successful book than A Bright Shining Lie, though it takes the same approach: viewing a major period in American history through the life and work of one person. In the earlier book, that person was Lt. Col. John Paul Vann, a severe critic of the conduct of the Vietnam War, and his life and death provided great insight on an ill-conceived conflict. In A Fiery Peace in a Cold War, the central figure is Bernard Schriever, who eventually became a four-star general in recognition of his work directing the Air Force project that produced the "ultimate weapon" of the book's subtitle, the intercontinental ballistic missile. Schriever is not so vividly controversial a figure as Vann, and consequently the book lacks a strong conflict -- unless you count the conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union.

What makes the book valuable and readable in my point of view is that it illuminates so much of what you might call "mid-range" recent history -- the years from 1945 to 1962, or from Hiroshima to the Cuban Missile Crisis. It was a period I lived through and consequently never studied in history class, which means that a lot of my conceptions of the period are oddly unformed. My bias is to think of the arms race as a Bad Thing -- and in certain ways it was. It produced what Eisenhower (who comes off rather well in this book) called the "military-industrial complex," which still has a stranglehold on the American economy and American politics. And there's a strong case to be made that the arms race was unnecessary, that it arose out of a fear of the "international communist conspiracy," which didn't really exist. But Sheehan also makes the case that the development of ICBMs on both sides helped stabilize the post-WWII world. By achieving a balance of terror, Mutual Assured Destruction, the arms race helped bring about peace.

On the other hand, by focusing on Schriever, Sheehan is precluded from exploring what happened to the world, and especially to the United States, after the nuclear stalemate was achieved. That is, of course, material for another book or several, many of which have been written by Richard Rhodes. A lot of A Fiery Peace is anticlimactic: the book concludes with a long, detailed description of Schriever's funeral, which, while it has some touching moments (and some ironic ones, including the appearance of Donald Rumsfeld at the interment) takes up too much space that might otherwise have been devoted to exploring the consequences of what Schriever -- and what seems like a cast of hundreds of officers and engineers -- created. (less)

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Jun 07, 2010

Cv Rick rated it

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Shelves: history

This book was special for me. It explained a lot about my childhood. My father was in the Air Force, in SAC (the Strategic Air Command), and I lived on SAC bases through the 70's and into the 80's. Some of the characters described in this volume were people I'd met and for me they were just Colonel or General so-and-so. I had no idea that they were playing any more of a pivotal role in the arms race against/with the Soviet Union than any other officer.

So much of what comprised A F...more

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Jan 31, 2010

Randy rated it

I picked this up because Sheehan's "A Bright Shining Lie" is the best book I've read about the Vietnam war. "A Fiery Peace" is a tougher read. It's the story of a process, the development of our short and long range missile capability which was the result of the arms race of the Cold War. He ties the story to the career of Bernard Schriever, a German immigrant who shepherded the missile program from it's beginning to end and retired as a four star general. Sheehan does a grea...more

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Dec 02, 2009

Bookmarks Magazine rated it

Shelves: jan-feb-2010

Critics considered General Schriever's story an important chapter in U.S. history but were somewhat disappointed that A Fiery Peace did not rise to the level of the award-winning A Bright Shining Lie. Some shortcomings are inherent in the subject matter, given that bureaucratic struggles lack the excitement of the battlefield. However, critics also questioned Sheehan's decision to center the larger history on a single character—a technique that served him well with the charismatic Lt. Col. John ...more

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Jul 23, 2009

Bruce rated it

This book fits into a couple of different categories. The subtitle “Bernard Schriever and the Ultimate Weapon” leads one in the direction of a biography and it is, in part. However, it is not a single biography as it contains ‘mini’ biographies of several individuals of men connected to the development of the ICBM (both in the US and in the then USSR) and that were connected, directly or indirectly, to General Schriever’s programs and life. These are men one seldom hears of but were crucial...moreThis book fits into a couple of different categories. The subtitle “Bernard Schriever and the Ultimate Weapon” leads one in the direction of a biography and it is, in part. However, it is not a single biography as it contains ‘mini’ biographies of several individuals of men connected to the development of the ICBM (both in the US and in the then USSR) and that were connected, directly or indirectly, to General Schriever’s programs and life. These are men one seldom hears of but were crucial to the development of the ICBM: Theodore von Kármán, John von Neumann, Trevor Gardner, Simon Ramo, Dean Wooldridge, Sergei Korolev, and a host of others. “A Fiery Peace in a Cold War” is also part military history; Sheehan provides a synopsis of World War II and a bit on the German rocket program. A study on the difficulties of getting new technology accepted and new programs initiated and supported is also gleaned from this work. Part of this difficulty arises from dealing with old school, traditional leaders (for some of which Sheehan provides biographic information) and the other from inter-service rivalry. [Both of which still create problems.:] Just before the epilogue (which includes a lengthy description of Schriever’s funeral) several pages are devoted to the Cuban Missile Crisis which is the last of several other diplomatic episodes diplomatic episodes discussed in this work.
What ties the book together is the relationship of individuals to the late Gen. Bernard Schriever, a disciple of Henry ‘Hap’ Arnold, the only individual to hold five-star rank in two services, and the development of the ICBM. Schriever developed a vision and had a knack for choosing the right people for the positions needing to be filled and the work to be done. He would not back down from defending what he thought was right, standing up to senior officers and politicians regardless of the possible damage to his career. Fortunately, he also had supporters in high places that would back him up. He, in turn, had his own group of subordinates that were like him – bold, clever, and willing to take the initiative and who he backed up.
The book is not strictly chronological and Sheehan sometimes goes back a few years in his discussions yet he generally keeps within the decade or so that the majority of the book covers. There are 82 ‘chapters’ divided into seven books and an epilogue and. What one might term a contradiction occurs when comparing a statement in Chapter 15 when Sheehan posits that a mis-reading of Stalin led to the Cold War. However, later, in Chapter 18, he mentions that Andrei Sakharov (father of USSR’s H-bomb) noted in his memoirs he was certain Stalin would not have reciprocated any American restraint in creating the hydrogen bomb. Perhaps as a result of his book on Vietnam, Sheehan, in Chapter 45, in essence says America’s anti-communist theology got in the way of perceiving reality and led to the disastrous consequences of Vietnam War. Though I can agree with Sheehan’s view on America’s anti-communist theology I have difficulty believing Stalin was mis-read.
Having just read the 1986 winner of the Pulitzer Prize for History – “The Heavens and the Earth: A Political History of the Space Age“ by Walter A. McDougall, I am surprised Sheehan did not mention the discussions of international law relating to the question of surveillance from space. Once Sputnik was up, the Soviets could not complain about satellites flying over their territory.
While many of us are familiar with the ‘heroes’ of space flight, e.g. Neil Armstrong, Yuri Gagarin and Sally Ride, few people know of those who made space flight possible. Individuals like Gen. Schriever, Theodore von Kármán, John von Neumann, Trevor Gardner, Simon Ramo, Dean Wooldridge, Ed Hall, and Sergei Korolev and his team of Soviet scientists, who provided the means by which the astronauts could go into space. This work makes us aware of those individuals and those programs while providing an informative introduction to Cold War history and the development of the ICBM.
“Fiery Peace in a Cold War” is an easily read narrative history, rather than footnotes or endnotes Sheehan has a section titled Source Notes revealing he did a lot of interviews for this work, primary sources, and lists their names with a majority described as USAF (Ret.) Sheehan has also included a rather lengthy bibliography (which includes McDougall’s work).
Available in bookstores on 22 September 2009.
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Oct 13, 2009

thewanderingjew rated it

Starting with the prologue this book implies to the reader the importance of a military that is innovative and always one step ahead of the game when it comes to all the other players. In the early thirties, America was fairly complacent regarding the development of deterrent weapons. After World War II, the focus changed. We were a superpower. General Hap Arnold believed that as the US emerged as a "predominant power" it would be subject to continuing threats from potential enemies. I...moreStarting with the prologue this book implies to the reader the importance of a military that is innovative and always one step ahead of the game when it comes to all the other players. In the early thirties, America was fairly complacent regarding the development of deterrent weapons. After World War II, the focus changed. We were a superpower. General Hap Arnold believed that as the US emerged as a "predominant power" it would be subject to continuing threats from potential enemies. It would appear that he foreshadowed the future of America very clearly and his belief in the need for scientific research, to develop weapons as a deterrent to our enemies then, seems even more necessary today with the sophistication of weaponry being developed by all nations, some bent on the destruction of others they consider enemies, some not yet fully developed enough to understand the consequences of their own actions.
There is a saying that everyone has heard which tells us that if we don't learn from the mistakes of history, we are doomed to repeat them. What I am wondering is, has our course and strategy in the USA, in this year 2009, not returned to the mindset of the early thirties since our current government's strategy seems bent on reducing our defensive capabilities?
This book has, early on, raised red flags for me. I am hoping to learn from this book, based on historical events, whether or not our administration can be successful if it continues to develop strategic defense deterrents or chooses rather to follow a policy of appeasement, returning to polices of the past, less scientific research and development including a reduction of arms around the world. Can we totally trust and depend on the other nations of the world to follow the rules when they have not done so in the past, and are we prepared to do this and face the possibility of failure?
Are we doomed to defeat because of our rigidity and unwillingness to follow any policy other than a strict adherence to political agendas at all costs? As I read and learn from historic events, I hope I will be enlightened as to how our country might be expected to act regarding the preparation and response to any catastrophic event or conflict facing this nation, and on the other hand, I expect I will learn the opposite, as well, how it might not.
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Nov 26, 2010

Scott Martin rated it

This is a much a biography as history. From my perspective, I did learn a great deal about the role and importance of the ICBM to America's overall deterrence posture during the Cold War. Schriever is certainly a major player in the USAF, and even sorting through the overall positive review of his actions in the view of the author, Schriever was certainly as big a player in the USAF as LeMay (who is also a major player in this book, but as much a villan as a power player (LeMay was an advocate o...more

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Jul 25, 2009

Janene Imgrund rated it

Shelves: first-reads-wins

This was a first reads win!

I brought this book to a very good friend of mine...who reads as much...if not more...than I do. I think he favors biographies. He's in his 80's...and has many, many war stories he loves to share...and some he doesn't talk about. I thought this book would be right up his alley.

I got an email from his wife today....and in part, this is what she had to say:

"Just wanted to tell you that John is really enjoying the book you br...more

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Aug 01, 2009

Kent Disch rated it

I got a copy of this book from the Goodreads "First Reads" program.

The book takes a look at a little known and even less talked about but highly important piece of the Cold War, the development and building of the ICBM.

The book claims to follow this particular storyline through the lens of Bernard "Bennie" Schriever. I say "claims" because throughout the book we get detailed bios and storylines on many of the key players, most of whom were ju...more

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Oct 04, 2010

Converse rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: biography, history, non-fiction, politics, technology, warfare

Bernard Schriever was the US Air Force officer who sheparded the American inter-continental ballistic missile and spy satellites into existance. He seems to be the person who realized that the development of the hydrogen bomb would mean that nuclear weapons of comparatively low weight would be developed, weapons that a missile could carry but with so much destructive power that their relative inaccuracy would not matter.

The book does meander somewhat, which I enjoyed. Besides the main poi

...more

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Jun 20, 2011

Zach Thibodeau rated it

Shelves: non-fiction-history

I enjoyed it, the journalistic writing style of Sheehan is well crafted, interesting, and an excellent example of narrative history. The story was good. Bernard Schreiver is a figure I had never heard of before reading this book, and I had no idea the impact of the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile. The world was so damn close to mutual destruction. The Cold War is an incredible subject, and I look forward to teaching it to my students and continuing to read about it.

On critical ...more

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Dec 30, 2009

Andy rated it

Sheenan is a wonderful writer, but it’s not easy to draw out a compelling narrative from the biography of a military bureaucrat. Sheenan’s account begins with young Bernard Schriever paying his way through college by playing golf, and when a biography starts on the putting green, that’s a very troubling sign.

Thankfully, the story picks up when Schriever enlists in the military, quickly ascending to the rank of Air Force General, and the book really hits its stride during the later pe...more

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May 29, 2010

Lucas rated it

Shelves: audio, history, aerospace, military

Curtis LeMay is the villain in this book, but there wasn't a lot of closure to his character. Did he accept the supremacy of the ICBM over the strategic bomber eventually? I think his presence in the book is important- there's a common one-dimensional acceptance of whatever technology the most prominent hawk is promoting must be best for national defense, but the the missile gap would have been very real and dangerous for the U.S. if LeMay had been allowed to sideline the ICBM and IRBM project...more

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Nov 14, 2010

Steve rated it

Shelves: military-history, cold-war-history, political-history, modern-history, nonfiction, organizations

Sheehan's magnum opus was 'A Bright Shining Lie', a book that Sheehan admits took him twenty years to write. This book is not on the same level, but it is very good nonetheless. On the whole, I think that the best British writers can outpace American writers, that is my bias. However, Sheehan is a very good non-fiction writer. I was not aware of the significance of General Schreiver before reading this book. Although Gen. Schreiver was in many ways more important, he has been overshadowed b...more

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Nov 22, 2011

John marked it as to-read

I'm nearly half through this book about the US's development of the intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). I am a great admirer of Neil Sheehan's writing, especially his masterpiece, "Bright Shining Lie." I can't say that "A Fiery Peace" is any less well researched, written, etc., etc., and I'm glad to be reading it. I'll be more glad when I finish it. It simply lacks the passion that reverberates through "Shining Lie" from first page to last. For one thing, the...more

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Nov 01, 2009

David rated it

I don't know what to say. This is the story of humanity's rapid acquisition of the ability to eliminate itself by the push of a button. To Sheehan, Bernard Schriever is the hero of this story. OK, whatever. For the computer scientist, the prominence of Johnny von Neumann as another hero may pique your interest. He is a perfervid advocate, lending his great mind and prestige to the cause. Moreover he wanted to let loose his destructive forces on the Soviet Union under the doctrine of "...more

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Feb 06, 2011

Jb rated it

Story of the Cold War nuclear arms race is told through Schreiver's life. As an Air Force officer who eventually rose to four-star rank, he pushed through and led development of U.S. intercontinental ballistic missiles. Mean-spirited generals sometimes stood in his way but along with help of brainy scientific types the ICBM program grew to awesome quantity. U.S. missile superiority bought time and by 1990 the Soviets self-destructed from their own internal contradictions. Northern hemisphere civ...more

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Nov 26, 2009

Nick rated it

Shelves: biography, history, politics, science

Neal Sheehan ties the history of the Cold War to his biography of the Air Force officer in charge of developing the ICBM. As biography, it didn't really work for me but as history, this is a great survey of the Cold War, its causes and consequences. I especially like his focus on the politics of defense spending and on Eisenhower's concerns about defense versus social spending.

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Nov 08, 2009

Steven rated it

This is a must read for baby boomers. A fascinating account of the development of the US missile program. American history is so short. The book begins during the lifetimes of our parents, when the Army Air Corp cruised the skys in wood frame, cloth bodied, open air aircraft incapable of flying safely in bad weather at nighttime. Lots of nostalgia for everyone

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Oct 04, 2009

Jared marked it as to-read

I found Neil Sheehan's "A Bright Shining Lie" to be one of the most compelling books I've ever read, a work of simultaneous history and biography that offered broad lessons about both history and human nature. So I am eager to see him try to do the same thing with the missile race and space race of the early Cold War.

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Apr 02, 2011

Bennet rated it

Shelves: history-politics-war

Excellent overview of the missile program, and a keen examination of the influence and role of Strategic Air Command. On par with his "A Bright Shining Lie," although the personal aspects of the story (Bernard Schriever's biography) didn't interest me nearly as much as the military and political history.

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Oct 16, 2010

Jack rated it

A lot of this book sounded like USA! USA! all the time. I think it put itself in an awkward place by glossing over the technical minutia, and cheer leading the efforts of its subject.

This means that there were pages of details of Gen. Schriever growing up and being good at golf, and the Minuteman II and III programs are covered in less than two paragraphs. The author also chooses not to dwell on the collapse of the subjects marriage and subsequent less than apple pie life details. I...more

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Jul 23, 2011

Margaret Sankey added it

Neil Sheehan is back in the Cold War, framing the rise of the technocrat air force and the development of ICBMs through the career of Bernhard Schriever.

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Jan 30, 2010

Nick Black marked it as to-read

Shelves: to-acquire, oppenheimania

reviewed on Nuclear Dreams

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Dec 11, 2009

Kim rated it

It was a little over my head with all the technical rocket science but an overall informative read on the cold war. I am adding to my knowledge base.

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Jul 03, 2009

Lorelai marked it as to-read

Just learned I am getting a copy of this through first reads giveaways. As soon I receive it on my nightstand it will go to be read.

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May 10, 2010

Mark rated it

Wow, I loved this book (an audiobook from the LA County library). I already knew plenty about the development of NASA and its civilian rocket program, but this parallel story about the development of the ICBM (the rocket more than the warhead) was largely new to me.

The book waffles about whether it's a biography of Schriever or a history of a military program. It's more successful as the latter. What a story of California, too: Caltech, TRW, Aerojet, Vandenburg AFB, Convair, General...more

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Aug 08, 2009

Kathy marked it as did-t-finish

A first reads book. I'm in the middle of reading another long book, but I'll read this one a little at a time. It's a different genre for me.
8/8/09 I have given up on reading this book. I'm going to pass it on to my husband, who loves books about history and politics. To me, it feels like I was slogging through a school assignment in a class required for graduation.

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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6377338-a-fiery-peace-in-a-cold-war?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320522058m/6377338.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6377338-a-fiery-peace-in-a-cold-war?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]A Fiery Peace in a Cold War: Bernard Schriever and the Ultimate Weapon by Neil Sheehan[/url]

A Fiery Peace in a Cold War: Bernard Schriever and the Ultimate Weapon

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A Fiery Peace in a Cold War: Bernard Schriever and the Ultimate Weapon

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Books by Neil Sheehan

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