Doom Towns: The People and Landscapes of Atomic Testing, A Graphic History

by Andrew G. Kirk

The history of atomic testing is usually told as a story about big technology, big science, and complex global politics. Doom The People and Landscapes of Atomic Testing explains critical technological developments and the policies that drove weapons innovation within the context of the specific environments and communities where testing actually took place. The book emphasizes the people who participated, protested, or were affected by atomic testing and explains the decision-making process that resulted in these people and places becoming the only locations and groups to actually experience nuclear warfare during the Cold War. The graphic history presents various viewpoints directly linked to primary sources that reveal the complexity and uncertainty of this history to readers, while also providing evidence and access to archives to help them explore this controversial topic further and to reach their own informed conclusions about this history.

Genres: History, Graphic Novels, Nonfiction, Comics, War, Science, Reference

384 pages, Paperback

Published September 30, 2016

About the author

Andrew Kirk is an associate professor and director of the Public History Program at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and author of Collecting Nature: The American Environmental Movement and the Conservation Library.

Reviews

[Emily Rheault · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have never read a historical book like this, but what a fascinating book from start to finish. Part graphic novel, part collection of primary documents, part traditional history, Doom Towns tells the story of US atomic testing in the Cold War era. It traces the political, environmental, scientific, and social aspects of US atomic testing crafting a nuanced and thoughtful history of the period.

[Nicole Chilton · Rating 4 out of 5]

After watching Oppenheimer, I wanted to know more about the nuclear testing sites in Nevada and remembered having this on my to-read list.

The format of this book is catered toward academic study, with guided questions, source material and historical references. Really fascinating, and now I have a few more books to add based on the bibliography.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

This graphic novel covers the birth of the atomic age from the perspective of the first atomic bomb detonations and testing at the Nevada Test Site (NTS). You get to see the Trinity test, the Crossroads tests, and other detonations at the NTS. For the squeamish, the book does depict animals like pigs and dogs being victims of nuclear tests.

This book highlights the unbelievable hubris of the scientists and politicians that came up with and funded these tests and experiments, which have left a lasting legacy of radiological contamination across this country.

The graphic novel is only a portion of the book, taking up 124 pages of the 384 pages. The rest of the book is made up of a lengthy introduction, a selection of primary sources related to nuclear testing, plus a chapter on the historical context of the events depicted in the graphic novel.

Overall, not a bad addition to literature on the subject. I'm glad to see more and more non-fiction graphic depictions of history.

[Natasha Ortiz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for my History 416B class...very interesting!

[Viet Phuong · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am surprised to see this book has such a high review score here. As a leaner of this subject, this book is pretty disappointing as, despite its very significant length and broad claim of being able to explore new perspectives on the nukes tests, it actually does not deliver on such promises. The contents are pretty dry without many new findings, whereas the illustrations are mostly bland, uninspiring, and from time to time too abstract to be informative. This book also fails in terms of storytelling as it appears to be a collage of very different views and testimonies of people attached to the test without any actual effort to provide an overarching narrative that might help the readers to understand the changing nature of the test and how the public opinion in the US and elsewhere has been shaped by, and has shaped such an unique program in modern history. The fact that this testing program, at least in the US, requires BOTH utmost secrecy and public transparency is already an interesting dilemma needing exploration for any history book, let alone such a lengthy book dedicated to this subject. As a scientific book, this book is not a satisfying reading experience either, as the authors did not really attempt to “translate” the rather unintelligible nuclear concepts like rem, radioactive contamination into more digestible terms for the general public - and I said that as a learner of this subject - what is the point of citing lengthy excerpts from scientific reports on the tests without explaining what those sophisticated numbers and formulae mean to public health and confidence? Of course, I appreciate the authors’ efforts in spending years to compile such a lengthy report and understand their good intention trying to help the public understand more about the nuclear tests, but despite all that, I still could not consider this book a good one on this subject of nuclear weapon history.

[Finley Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Doom Towns is expansive in range, traveling from Hiroshima and Nagasaki to the remote islands of the Pacific to the steppes of Kazakhstan to the vast deserts just north of Las Vegas, and from the beginning of the Cold War with the fall of Germany to its end in the 1990s, with the dissolution of the USSR. In this meticulously researched and carefully retold history, Kirk and Purcell invite us to consider the great complexity of the era of atomic testing: the relationships between the hundreds of thousands of laborers, protesters, scientists, downwinders, administrators, military men who oiled the atomic machine; its effects on animals, water, and land as radioactive ash rode on the wind; and the international consciousness that arose as a part of this unique and frightening time.

Importantly, Kirk and Purcell also ask us to consider how history is made, told, remembered - what has happened and what is said to have happened, in Trouillot's construction. Their work is ultimately an argument for a people's history, one generated from the bottom-up, from the minds and memories of those persons who have borne flesh witness to these events.

I am interested in the authors' treatment of the idea that the Nevadan desert was a "wasteland." Kirk and Purcell convincingly argue that the devaluing of these lands is explicitly linked to the devaluing of the peoples and creatures who call those lands home. They evoke a striking image of the desert littered with craters blasted into the earth in pursuit of a questionable peace; they gently describe the wild horses and blooming desert flowers in a place now laced with poison.

[Billy Marino · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok, I may be a little biased, but I promise this is well worth the read! You can just read the introduction and graphic history portion, or, and this is the more fulfilling route, you can dive into the sources and context. Doing this allows you to see some of the rare primary sources that Kirk and Purcell are a couple of the first people to view in order to present as research. You can see various examples of how documents, oral histories, and images were translated into this artistic piece of public history, and learn even more about the people and places involved in testing nuclear technology during the Cold War. If you live in or around Las Vegas, or anywhere in southern Nevada, this is a great way to begin exploring or dive deeper into the history of this city. Best way to do this? Pick up a copy and go read it over a cocktail or beer at Atomic Liquors!

[Courtney B · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting way to tackle the history of nuclear testing in the Nevada desert in the 1950s. It aptly demonstrated the follies of utilitarianism and the government’s willingness to sacrifice human life for the sake of so-called national security. Kirk successfully achieves his goal of melding top down and bottom up perspectives simultaneously. This book would be well suited for a historical methodology or public history seminar, as it mixes traditional historical argument, graphic novel, primary sources, and textbook material. That said, it is hard to know exactly the intended audience and I would hesitate to recommend to anyone but the most enthusiastic layperson. Any reader would need at least a basic knowledge of the atomic weapons program and would be best off having read a few other monographs on the topic before tackling this.

[Brown Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is probably underappreciated due to its subtlety. Until the last, brief section in which an overview of the Cold War is recited, this book does not try to convince the reader of anything. Just the facts, largely provided by the US government. The author and artist grant the reader the space to make their own judgement, draw their own conclusions.

The graphic section is a smooth visual winnowing and consolidation of the disparate images and narratives, too short in my opinion, but the gist is given.

This is a solid introduction to the nuclear weapons program. I especially appreciate the guide to the Nevada Test Site, which I'll never get to visit in person, alas.

[Caitie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this was told in a very unique way, and it worked. Even though the main story was told through images, it was explained very well. I did appreciate how things were explained in more detail afterwards, that was helpful.

[Dan Gorman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didactic and lacking a narrow thesis, this is still an impressive attempt to convey historical research in a new manner. The primary documents and reader's guide will make the book useful to high school and college teachers.

[Allison Connors · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was super informative and a fun way to absorb history through the illustrations. Makes me sad as a native Nevadan that this history is minimally taught and that I barely knew about the Nevada Test Site prior to this reading.

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An insightful graphic/prose hybrid history of U.S. nuclear weapons testing including copious primary source material.