The Dead Hand: The Untold Story of the Cold War Arms Race and its Dangerous Legacy

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The Dead Hand: The Untold Story of the Cold War Arms Race and its Dangerous Legacy

by David E. Hoffman

4.05 · rating details · 309 ratings · 69 reviews

“A tour de force of investigative history.” —Steve Coll

The Dead Hand is the suspense-filled story of the people who sought to brake the speeding locomotive of the arms race, then rushed to secure the nuclear and biological weapons left behind by the collapse of the Soviet Union—a dangerous legacy that haunts us even today.

The Cold War was an epoch of massive overkill. In t...more“A tour de force of investigative history.” —Steve Coll

The Dead Hand is the suspense-filled story of the people who sought to brake the speeding locomotive of the arms race, then rushed to secure the nuclear and biological weapons left behind by the collapse of the Soviet Union—a dangerous legacy that haunts us even today.

The Cold War was an epoch of massive overkill. In the last half of the twentieth century the two superpowers had perfected the science of mass destruction and possessed nuclear weapons with the combined power of a million Hiroshimas. What’s more, a Soviet biological warfare machine was ready to produce bacteria and viruses to sicken and kill millions. In The Dead Hand, a thrilling narrative history drawing on new archives and original research and interviews, David E. Hoffman reveals how presidents, scientists, diplomats, soldiers, and spies confronted the danger and changed the course of history.

The Dead Hand captures the inside story in both the United States and the Soviet Union, giving us an urgent and intimate account of the last decade of the arms race. With access to secret Kremlin documents, Hoffman chronicles Soviet internal deliberations that have long been hidden. He reveals that weapons designers in 1985 laid a massive “Star Wars” program on the desk of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to compete with President Reagan, but Gorbachev refused to build it. He unmasks the cover-up of the Soviet biological weapons program. He tells the exclusive story of one Soviet microbiologist’s quest to build a genetically engineered super-germ—it would cause a mild illness, a deceptive recovery, then a second, fatal attack. And he details the frightening history of the Doomsday Machine, known as the Dead Hand, which would launch a retaliatory nuclear strike if the Soviet leaders were wiped out.

When the Soviet Union collapsed, the dangers remained. Soon rickety trains were hauling unsecured nuclear warheads across the Russian steppe; tons of highly-enriched uranium and plutonium lay unguarded in warehouses; and microbiologists and bomb designers were scavenging for food to feed their families.

The Dead Hand offers fresh and startling insights into Reagan and Gorbachev, the two key figures of the end of the Cold War, and draws colorful, unforgettable portraits of many others who struggled, often valiantly, to save the world from the most terrifying weapons known to man.(less)

Hardcover, 592 pages

Published September 22nd 2009 by Doubleday (first published January 1st 2009)

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Jun 17, 2011

Dervishi rated it

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This book was a fantastic recounting of the Cold War. It was extremely factual, and did well in citing all of the sources for each piece of information and story that made this book non-fiction.

I always found the Cold War as this mysterious time period where we somehow miraculously avoided nuclear annihilation by coming up with Mutually Assured Destruction. However, Hoffman really gives us an in-depth and intimate look at how MAD came about. I was left intrigued as I learned about what...more

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Feb 26, 2011

Glenn Hyman rated it

Excellent book! The cold war is very much still with us. Still, Americans or Russians could send up their missiles and really the only possible responses are massive retaliation and doing nothing. I must say that I understand a little bit better the motivation of Ronald Reagan. He could not believe that if the Russians were to send up their missiles, there is not really much that we can do. That was behind the whole Star Wars thing. He wanted some way to protect us from a Soviet first strike, fo...more

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May 20, 2010

John Murphy rated it

An overly long but still interesting history.

The author has benefited from interviews with, and memoirs of high ranking participants in the Cold War, both Soviet and Western.

Some real surprises:

Reagan and Gorbachev, during their Summit in Iceland, with only interpreters present, agreed to eliminate all nuclear weapons by the year 2000. The agreement failed when Reagan insisted that his SDI program (Star Wars) could not be restricted to the laboratory but had ...more

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Nov 02, 2009

Tripp rated it

Depending on when you call it, the Cold War may have ended 20 years ago (could have been in 86 at Reykjavik or in 91 when the Soviet Union collapsed). Maybe it is for that reason we are seeing a surge in Cold War books. Last year we saw the angry Arsenals of Folly by Richard Rhodes, this year we have a new one from Neil Sheehan called a Firey Peace in a Cold War (just started it, great so far). Take a look at this review essay from Philip Zelikow for a number of books on the era.

In t...moreDepending on when you call it, the Cold War may have ended 20 years ago (could have been in 86 at Reykjavik or in 91 when the Soviet Union collapsed). Maybe it is for that reason we are seeing a surge in Cold War books. Last year we saw the angry Arsenals of Folly by Richard Rhodes, this year we have a new one from Neil Sheehan called a Firey Peace in a Cold War (just started it, great so far). Take a look at this review essay from Philip Zelikow for a number of books on the era.

In the Dead Hand, David Hoffman of the Washington Post covers both the East and West, but sheds a lot of new light on the Soviet side. He shows both the good, the realization that the nuclear arms race could end the world, and would certainly crush the Soviet economy, as well as the bad.

The bad is pretty grim. He spends quite a bit of time showing the rise of the Soviet biological weapons industry. The US, viewing bio-weapons as a strategic liability, signed and adhered to the Biological Weapons Convention and killed the offensive bio-weapons program. The Soviets feared the US was cheating, so they built a secret program with all sorts of horrors like smallpox bombs and new two punch viruses with an initial bug to weaken the immune system followed by a knockout punch bug.

Hoffman also shows the effects on international relations of the terrible management and maintenance practices, secrecy and the use of poor technology. The decrepit system allowed for the penetration of Soviet airspace by a young German in an airplane, Chernobyl, the anthrax outbreak of 79 and the shoot down of KAL 007. Recent history has tried to pin the blame on the US for this. Hoffman shows that the weight lies heavily, if not completely, on the Soviets.

Hoffman also discusses the post-war period where unemployed Soviet scientists sat in rotting buildings with weapons materials stored in filing cabinets. He reveals more about the US efforts to get weapons materials out of the newly independent republics.

I have a few minor complaints. The title is a bit of a dodge. The Dead Hand of the title refers to a Soviet Doomsday machine that would ensure that the missiles would fly even if the Russian leadership perished. Hoffman uses it as a metaphor to describe how the WMD is still out there even if we have forgotten about it. If you are expecting a book that focuses on doomsday machines, look elsewhere.

There are also times where Hoffman has done so much research that it starts to take over the narrative. The level of detail becomes a bit much and bogs down in a, fortunately very few, places. Overall I found it an engaging, well-written and informative read.(less)

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Dec 31, 2011

Andrew rated it

It's a good book, an interesting book. I learned things about the USSR and cold war history that I probably should have already learned. Education about history is good.

There's a breadth of content and, as I understand it, this book breaks new ground in documenting and publicizing the horrible secret recent history of weapons of mass destruction. It's an important contribution to civil understanding of the threats of proliferation and I hope can inform the public discourse. I came ...more

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Jul 28, 2011

Dave added it

Endlessly interesting book that won the 2010 Pulitzer for nonfiction. As someone who grew up with a father in the US Air Force and who used to read his annual copies of Soviet Military Power (a public glossy put out by the Pentagon) with wide-eyed fear and fascination, this book put an unexpected bookend on my own personal history. Wonder how the USSR developed its deadly chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons? It's all here. The author interviews the actual scientists, engineers, and mil...more

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May 14, 2011

Matt rated it

Really great book on the Cold War arms race - and why the problems that seemed to have ended in 1991 are still haunting us today. Very readable and unbelievably haunting. (The title of the book - The Dead Hand - is the name the Soviets gave to a nuclear response system that was 100% automated and run by a series of satellites and computers that nearly ended life on earth several times. The system would, upon warning of a launch from the US, launch a missile that would fly across the Soviet Union...more

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May 07, 2010

Kelly rated it

"The Dead Hand" covers enormous swaths of narrative terrain with an exceedingly narrow focus. After briefly introducing Soviet forays into biological and chemical warfare in the late 1970s, Hoffman commences with a retelling of the political and diplomatic bullet points between the U.S. and the Soviet Union in the 1980s. The central concern of this story is the struggle of both superpowers to reduce or eliminate their respective stockpiles of nuclear weapons, with a subplot devoted t...more"The Dead Hand" covers enormous swaths of narrative terrain with an exceedingly narrow focus. After briefly introducing Soviet forays into biological and chemical warfare in the late 1970s, Hoffman commences with a retelling of the political and diplomatic bullet points between the U.S. and the Soviet Union in the 1980s. The central concern of this story is the struggle of both superpowers to reduce or eliminate their respective stockpiles of nuclear weapons, with a subplot devoted to the aforementioned biological and chemical weapons programs within the Soviet Union.

Rather than present an exhaustive study of the complex science or realpolitik pressures at play, Hoffman tends to give credence to personality by singling out quirky moments and conversational tipping points (i.e., the notes President Reagan scrawled in the margins of dense white papers seem to matter more than the content of the papers themselves). There's nothing inherently disingenuous about this kind of history, but it avoids the distinction of being comprehensive.

Apparently there is a significant amount of primary - even groundbreaking - research that has made its way into this book. This may be enough to recommend it to readers with an existing library on the Cold War who nonetheless have an appetite for historical minutia. For those with merely a passing familiarity with the nuclear arms race, this might present more questions than answers (which might recommend it as well). To keep the story moving, Hoffman often breezes over motivations, geopolitics, and technical specifics; a tactic which tends to focus the reader's credulity on the author himself. Fortunately, such credulity is ultimately well placed. There is authority here, even if it not always on display.

Finally, it reads very much like newspaper writing: often dry, with ham-fisted (and unnecessary) attempts to humanize characters, bland repetition for fear of being unclear, and a generalized simplification of convoluted realities.(less)

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Jun 21, 2011

Adri Nurellari rated it

Excellent book, insightful and full of unimaginable details that often challenge the general perceptions that were developed during the cold war. It exposes the historical context, circumstances and conjectures that have shaped some of the most important decisions taken when the world was bipolar. What makes the book particularly comprehensive and special is the fact that it uses disclosed or declassified information as well as memories and interviews of the protagonists. This is why the book pr...more

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Dec 16, 2010

Brad Hodges rated it

The Dead Hand, by David E. Hoffman, is the Pulitzer-Prize winning look at the last stages of the Cold War, and it's as fascinating as it is scary. It seems that while we were all asleep in our beds, the world has come close to annihilation more than a few times, sometimes from flocks of geese being taken for nuclear missiles.

I love reading history of times I lived through, because it takes me back to what I was doing at the time. This one starts with the election of Ronald Reagan as ...moreThe Dead Hand, by David E. Hoffman, is the Pulitzer-Prize winning look at the last stages of the Cold War, and it's as fascinating as it is scary. It seems that while we were all asleep in our beds, the world has come close to annihilation more than a few times, sometimes from flocks of geese being taken for nuclear missiles.

I love reading history of times I lived through, because it takes me back to what I was doing at the time. This one starts with the election of Ronald Reagan as U.S. president, and whatever one thinks of him, it's hard to argue that his actions, as well as his persona, brought the Cold War to an end, and helped end the Soviet Union. Hoffman frequently describes him as a man who is able to hold more than belief in his head at the same time; he was an ardent anti-Communist (his "evil empire" speech snarled relations with the Soviets), but he also had a pipe dream about the complete elimination of nuclear weapons.

Hoffman also takes us nimbly through the succession of ancient Soviet General Secretaries, who started dying at an alarming rate. Brezhnev to Andropov to Chernenko, and then finally the relatively young and vigorous Mikhail Gorbachev, who, though he only led the Soviets for five years, may have had more of an impact on recent world history than anyone. As Hoffman puts it, "Gorbachev did not set out to change the world, but rather to save his country. In the end, he did not save his country but may have saved the world."

Gorbachev's twin aims--glasnost and perestroika--energized arms reduction talks, and Hoffman's chapter on the summit with Reagan in Reykjavik is thrilling. It seems that the two men came thisclose to an incredible achievement, but the sticking point was one word--laboratory--in regard to Reagan's SDI ("Star Wars") weapons shield. Of course, SDI was never built. This chapter is almost as good as the incredibly lucid account of the shooting down of the Korea Airlines commercial jet in 1983, which is definitively identified here as an unfortunate accident.

The scariest parts of the book deal with biological and chemical weapons. Amazingly, the U.S. is blameless in all this. Nixon ended those programs in 1969, but the Soviets didn't believe it, and thus continued, even during Gorbachev's reign, and even beyond, when the Soviet Union broke up and the Russian president, Boris Yeltsin, claimed to have stopped them. It's all chilling stuff--anthrax, plague, smallpox, all being developed as weapons, and with innocent bystanders suffering when experiments went awry. In 1979 in Sverdlosk 69 people died in an anthrax outbreak. Of course, there was also Chernobyl, which Hoffman covers in detail.

Besides the biological weapons, there was also the problem of all the nukes in a post-Soviet world. Hoffman spends one of his last chapters in a gripping narrative about how the U.S. raced to relieve Kazakhstan of a large pile of uranium--before the Iranians could by it. As Hoffman puts it, "...in some places the former Soviet Union was turning into a Home Depot of enriched uranium and plutonium, with shoppers cruising up and down the aisles."

The heart of Hoffman's research is interviews with those involved, including Gorbachev. But even more are those accounts from the Soviet scientists who worked on the deadly programs, and ended up seeing the light (and defecting to the West). At times the names come so fast and consonant-rich than I gave up telling one from another, but their stories still resonated. I especially found this passage moving: "The collapse of the Soviet Union marked the end of seven decades of a failed ideology, hypermilitization and rigid central controls. It left behind 6,623 nuclear warheads on land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles, 2,760 nuclear warheads on sea-based missiles, 822 nuclear bombs on planes and 150 warheads deployed on cruise missiles, as well as perhaps another 15,000 tactical nuclear warheads scattered in depots, trains and warehouses. It left behind at least 40,000 tons of chemical weapons, including millions of shells filled with nerve gas so deadly that one drop would kill a human being. It left behind tons of anthrax bacteria spores...and perhaps as much as 20 metric tons of smallpox in weapons, as well as pathogens the world had never known...It left behind hundreds of thousands of workers who knew the secrets, and who were now embittered, dispirited, and, in some cases, down to their last sack of potatoes."

By the way, the title refers to a procedure that ensured, if the Soviet command were wiped out, a nuclear response would still be launched, even if no one were left alive to ignite it. It was an example of reality following art, as it was a real-life example of the Doomsday Machine from Dr. Strangelove. (less)

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Jan 22, 2010

LeeAnn Heringer rated it

Shelves: read-in-2010, nonfiction, russian, 21st-century

A bit dry, more of a history book with dates and documents and a hundred Russian names that are difficult (for me) to remember and track, rather than a really compelling story. Though there are sections -- the Chernobyl meltdown, the fate of the loose plutonium and enriched uranium after the breakup of the Soviet Union (who could guess that Kazakhstan would be one of the success stories), the open selling of nerve gas to Syria and Iran, the continued blatant lies. Having just read Haruki Murak...more

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Jan 22, 2012

Tan rated it

An easy read giving an account of the buildup of the Soviet nuclear and biological weapons capabilities and arsenal during the Cold War period, in particular exposing the paranoia that guided the thinking of both the Soviet and American leadership in that time which ed to the arms race. Ironically, as trust starts to be built betw the foes, the Soviet Union collapses and a huge stock of weaponry, material and expertise are suddenly available for sale, and the chance to eliminate nuclear weapons ...more

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Sep 17, 2011

Mike Walker rated it

Overall, a great, harrowing, and complex true tale of the Cold War arms race with special attention to the Soviet's covert bioweapons program. When I bought this book, I was expecting it to mainly focus on the nuclear and bioweapons efforts of the USSR, which would have been fine, but I was surprised at the level of detail and introspection provided on the diplomacy between the Soviets, the Americans, and the British during the Reagan-Thatcher years. Having the story told from the frontlines of ...more

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Aug 08, 2011

Garrett Mccutcheon rated it

A good jumping-off point for learning about the weapons arsenals of the cold war. Certainly there are books out there that are more detailed about the nuclear arsenal, or the biological weapons arsenal, but few, if any, books do so well as this book in covering both. This book was very well documented, with sources on nearly every page. Also one of the first books of this type I have read that actually considers the socio-economic side of why we were in the arms race, and the effects it had on t...more

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Aug 11, 2011

Jeff rated it

A great book for Cold War historians. Similar to "One Minute to Midnight" in that it's amazing in hindsight to realize how much the US and USSR misunderstood each other. Hoffman writes that the USSR concealed massive biological and chemical weapons programs that only came to light recently even though they denied having these programs. His writing about these weapons and the nuclear weapons that were basically left lying around when the USSR dissolved is scary...almost to the point ...more

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Jun 16, 2011

Ryan rated it

Pretty fascinating, and extremely scary. My only complaint might be that it focuses on the Soviet side of things, and doesn't go into depth about the nuclear control systems or internal power struggles around nuclear management in the U.S. Still, the peek behind the Soviet system is scary, and shows how a small misunderstanding could have triggered nuclear war. Nice brief history of Gorbachev, too, who I didn't know too much about, but who I respect more now for trying to pull his country bac...more

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Nov 28, 2010

Dan rated it

This is a really really detailed look at the arms race that eventually ended the cold war. Hoffman did a ton of interviews, read countless memoirs and sifted through Russian and American declassified reports to put this book together. Don't be too intimidated by it though, it's very readable and doesn't come across like a textbook.

I enjoyed the parts about USSR and American politics the most. I just don't know how Hoffman came across all of the insider knowledge concerning politic...more

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Nov 24, 2009

Matt rated it

I'll admit I picked this up because I am a fan of nuke porn. I grew up reading the surprisingly subtle On the Beach, the over-written, over-sexed The Last Ship, and the ridiculous Ian Slater series WW III. On television, I was thrilled by The Day After (I've never seen Steve Guttenberg the same, since). I even downloaded On Thermonuclear War, just to see what precautions I could take (step one: don't get into a thermonuclear war; there is no step two).

Some months ago, I read an arti...more

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Jun 14, 2010

Nick rated it

Shelves: history, international, non-fiction, politics

We don't hear much about weapons of mass destruction these days, but this history of the Cold War arms race and its aftermath is a warning bell that much needs to be done, not only to abolish nuclear weapons, but also chemical and biological weapons and stocks of enriched uranium and plutonium. Hoffman lays out in plain language the extent of unsecured weapons, weapons-grade materials and scientists and technicians who are able to make more of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.

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Aug 22, 2010

Douglas rated it

· review of another edition

I was in collage when most of what this book covers, and as bad as I thought, it was worse. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to know the last chapter of the Cold War and the Soviet Union. It explains how our mistrust of each other resulted in ten of thousand of nuclear warheads being made and pointed at each other. One interesting bit was how the USSR violated the 1973 treaty on biological warfare in a massive way and continued to preform research and weapons development into the Yeltsi...more

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Nov 13, 2009

Amy rated it

I didn't get a chance to finish this as my life is just too busy to process this dense information, but WOW! I'm glad to know I was naive and shielded from all that went on during the cold war. Anthrax outbreaks in the Soviet Union, the U.S. feeding misinformation to them which resulted in one of the largest non-nuclear explosions and that's just the tip of the iceberg. Well documented and fascinating.

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Aug 11, 2011

Rachel Fritz added it

This the third Pulitzer prize winner that I have read this year and I have not been disappointed. An incredible read that explores the nuclear, biological and chemical weapons of the Cold War. Very interesting to read how each side misunderstood the other. It ends with the tragic thought of how ideologies and threats have changed but the potential for mass destruction is still real.

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Jan 15, 2011

Eric Bittner rated it

A very thorough and compelling account of the end of the Cold War and the legacy of weapons of mass destruction left behind. The book begins with the war scare of 1983, through the rise of Gorbachev, the collapse of the Soviet Union, and finally the struggle to control the nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons left behind. One thing that is abundantly clear throughout is how much each side was in the dark about the other, due mainly to faulty assumptions. All in all, an impressive book, and ...more

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Aug 25, 2010

Ray rated it

· review of another edition

This was a well researched and very detailed description of the war footing, politics, nuclear arsenals and hidden programs for weapons of mass destruction of the U.S.S.R. during the cold war period. It contains extensive descriptions of the Soviet leaders and key players during the period, however I would have been more satisfied if the details were condensed a little more.

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Jul 01, 2010

Liz rated it

I got a Kindle for Christmas and this was the first book I downloaded. I have found my Kindle lacking (really wish it was backlit so I could read in the car or in bed when my husband is sleeping!). This is a VERY enlightening and frightening book. I highly recommend it. Very readable. I learned a great deal. Must say I have new appreciation for Ronald Reagan....I can't believe it.

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Jul 28, 2011

Nick Black rated it

Shelves: oppenheimania

Great reporting and research -- I'd barely heard of the Biopreparat, despite The Doomsday Men's emphasis on biochem (particularly Shirō Ishii's Unit 731). Pretty crappy writing, though. The whole thing has a definite air of being hustled together on a bunch of adderall.

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Jan 23, 2011

Chris rated it

This is an excellent book for those interested in the cold war. Hoffman interviewed key people and did a lot of digging in archival material to put the whole story together. For someone with fleeting memories of Reagan and Gorby meeting in Iceland it was great to read detailed behind the scenes info and to put those memories in context.

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May 22, 2011

Jeff rated it

Very well written and informative. Could have been a bit more consice. None of us knew the results of the insane game that was the cold war and the nuclear arms race. The fall of the Soviet Union left an unimaginable amount of lethal items unguarded and much of it remains unaccounted for (Iranian agents spent years scouring the former Soviet Union for nuclear material and scientists and they ended up with quite a few of both).

If ignorance is bliss then don't read this book.

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Nov 22, 2010

Woodrow Wilson rated it

This is an thoroughly researched narration of how the Cold War ended.

It details the Soviet side of events, and leaves the reader with a new understanding of Russian motivations and fears of the West. We see Soviet activity from the political, military and industrial viewpoints. Soviet adventures in chemical, biological and nuclear weapons are scary. The condition of the stockpiles since the collapse of the Soviet Union is terrifying.

The book also describes the NATO side of t...more

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Dec 05, 2010

Terri rated it

Very well researched and readable account of secret Russian nuclear and (most scary) biowarfare programs and how arms control agreements were reached. Also the disintegration of the Soviet Union, Gorbachev, Yeltsin and Reagan. Some interesting tidbits about our current defense secretary, Gates.

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About David E. Hoffman

Hoffman was born in Palo Alto, Calif., grew up in Delaware and attended the University of Delaware. He came to Washington in 1977 to work for the Capitol Hill News Service. As a member of the Washington bureau of the San Jose Mercury News, he covered Ronald Reagan's 1980 presidential campaign. In May 1982, he joined The Post to help cover the Reagan White House. He also covered the first two year...more

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