Anatomy of the World

Why was there a Cold War after the Second World War? Why did it entail a nuclear arms race? Why have previous efforts to limit the arms race been so unsuccessful? What has been Australia's role in these nuclear preparations? Many writers have warned of the danger of nuclear annihilation, but few have probed its origins, its causes and the factors which sustain it within both Superpowers. Anatomy of the World provides this essential understanding by recounting the history of the nuclear age from Hiroshima onwards, through the dark 'winter' of the Cold War and the illusory 'summer' of detente, up to the present impasse in East-West relations. The book is divided into three parts: Part I focuses on the wolrd political anatomy, Part II on the history of Australia's nuclear involvements and Part III on the movements that have arisen worldwide in opposition to what seems an inevitable trend to doom. The historical perspective illuminates Australia's present predicament as she finds herself drawn increasingly into the nuclear front-line. The authors ask what Australian politicians might do to ameliorate these past mistakes and what Australian protesters might learn from their predecessors. The book, however, addresses itself first and foremost to the individual: it enters into the anguish of the 'hostage' immobilised by a threat that seems both remote and imminent, yet argues that any solution must drawn on the human qualities of ordinary people. It is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand so as to act.

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