Star Wars in a Nuclear World

Star Wars in a Nuclear World PDF Author: Solly Zuckerman Baron Zuckerman
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 328

Get Book

Book Description

Star Wars in a Nuclear World

Star Wars in a Nuclear World PDF Author: Solly Zuckerman Baron Zuckerman
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 328

Get Book

Book Description


How the End Begins

How the End Begins PDF Author: Ron Rosenbaum
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1416594221
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 322

Get Book

Book Description
An alarming, deeply reported analysis of how close--and how often--the world has come to nuclear annihilation, and why we are once again on the brink.

Star Wars and History

Star Wars and History PDF Author: Lucasfilm
Publisher: Wiley
ISBN: 9780470602003
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 344

Get Book

Book Description
At last—an analysis of the historical patterns that influenced the creation and storyline of the Star Wars saga Star Wars took place long ago in a galaxy far, far away, but its epic stories are based on our own history. From Ancient Egypt and the Roman Empire to the French Revolution and the Vietnam War, Star Wars and History explores the major historical turning points, heroes, and villains in human history and their impact on the creation of the Star Wars saga. Star Wars and History shows how the atomic and hydrogen bombs led to the Death Star; how Princess Leia's leadership in the Rebel Alliance resembled the daring work of intrepid women in the French Resistance during World War II and the Mexican Revolution; historical parallels between the Jedi Code and Bushido as well as those linking the Jedi culture with that of the Templar Knights and other warrior monks; and all of the history that underlies the Star Wars galaxy. Read how our own civilization's civil wars, slavery, international corporation states, and teenage queens were transformed into the epic Star Wars history and discover how Tatooine reflects the lawless frontiers of the past and Coruscant our own history of glittering and greedy capitals. The first book devoted to analyzing the actual historical events in our past that influenced the creation of the space fantasy, Star Wars Features 11 essays by a wise "council" of history scholars, written in close collaboration with George Lucas and Lucasfilm Gives new insights into central Star Wars characters and historical figures who helped inspire them (including Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, Darth Vader, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Queen Amidala, Yoda, Jabba the Hutt, Lando Calrissian, Emperor Palpatine, and others) Includes both stunning photos from the Lucasfilm Image Archives and historical photos that demonstrate the parallels between both worlds Filled with fascinating historical comparisons and background that will take your experience of the Star Wars saga to a new level, Star Wars and History is an essential companion for every Star Wars fan.

The Strategic Defense Debate

The Strategic Defense Debate PDF Author: Craig Snyder
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
ISBN: 1512807451
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 268

Get Book

Book Description
"The goal of our strategic defense research program, the vision and hope of the President, is to stop Soviet missiles before they could destroy any targets, be they in the United States or anywhere else. The goal is noble and straightforward: to destroy weapons that kill people. Thus, based on a realistic view of Soviet military planning, the transition to strategic defense would not be destabilizing. In fact, any initial defensive capabilities would offer many benefits. . . . This objective is far more idealistic, moral, and practical than the position taken by those who still embrace the mutual assured destruction (MAD) theory that defenses must be totally abandoned."—Caspar Weinberger "This is basically a research program and should remain so, at least for the foreseeable future. . . . In a world that relies on an exquisite strategic balance to forestall the holocaust, it would be the worst of blunders to jolt the tightrope when the safety net is tied at only one end."—James Schlesinger "Neither Star Wars I or Star Wars II, in whatever form one considers them, is an effective response to the public's intuitive awareness of the unacceptable risk posed by our present nuclear strategy."—Robert McNamara "The goal of our innovative science and technology program is to establish scientific feasibility and engineering validation of revolutionary concepts. concepts with potential for full SDI technological development. This forward-looking office has a broad research charter which focuses on advanced directed energy concepts such as gamma-ray lasers. on novel sensing and data preprocessing techniques, on advanced materials for space applications, on innovations in spacepower, and on emerging space­science applications and ultra-high-speed supercomputing. Interest in such exotic areas of science and technology clearly illustrates that SDI has greatly facilitated the mobilization of our nation's scientific community."—Lt . Gen. James Abrahamson Prominent world leaders and scientists came together in 1985 to discuss the technological feasibility and the political sensibility of "Star Wars." Their essays, presented in The Strategic Defense Debate, provide, for the first time a comprehensive look at this timely and controversial subject. Craig Snyder's introduction and headnotes to the collection highlight the critical points of each essay, as well as their conceptual significance to the overall topic. Contributors include: Caspar Weinberger, James Schlesinger, Lieutenant General James A. Abrahamson. Robert S. McNamara, Andrew Cockburn, Richard Pipes. Stephen F. Cohen, Adam Garfinkle, Leon Wieseltier. Michael Vlahos, Franklin Long, Francis Pym, Major Simon P. Worden, Richard Garwin, Robert S. Cooper, Colin S. Gray, Robert Bowman, Alex Gliksman, and Warren Zimmerman. Excerpts from President Reagan's speech "Peace and National Security" and Ambassador Paul H. Nitze's speech "On the Road to a More Stable Peace" are also included. The essays were originally presented at a conference sponsored by The World Affairs Council of Philadelphia in late 1985. The Strategic Defense Debate will be invaluable to students, scholars and lay persons interested in politics, history. military strategy and Soviet relations.

Star Warriors

Star Warriors PDF Author: William J Broad
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 0671628208
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 252

Get Book

Book Description
SCOTT (Copy 1): From the John Holmes Library collection.

Energy Abstracts for Policy Analysis

Energy Abstracts for Policy Analysis PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Power resources
Languages : en
Pages : 700

Get Book

Book Description


The Star Wars Enigma

The Star Wars Enigma PDF Author: Nigel Hey
Publisher: Potomac Books, Inc.
ISBN: 1612343295
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 407

Get Book

Book Description
The year 1982 was a desperate time for the U.S. defense community. The United States had no effective system to protect itself completely from a Soviet attack with nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missiles, which the Soviet Union possessed in large quantity, and the doomsday philosophy of mutually assured destruction seemed inescapable. But people in the Reagan administration, including Reagan himself, were not content with what they viewed as a morally unacceptable status quo. Then Adm. James Watkins, a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, asked, "Wouldn't it be better if we could develop a system that would protect, rather than avenge, our people?" With that, the president's commitment to the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) became certain. Ultimately, SDI reflected Western political idealism, a powerful ingredient in the struggle to finally conquer the terrors of the Cold War and to allay the threat of nuclear holocaust. The Star Wars Enigma tells this dramatic story.

The Strategic Defense Initiative

The Strategic Defense Initiative PDF Author: United States. President (1981-1989 : Reagan)
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Military art and science
Languages : en
Pages : 8

Get Book

Book Description


Way Out There In the Blue

Way Out There In the Blue PDF Author: Frances FitzGerald
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 0743203771
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 592

Get Book

Book Description
Way Out There in the Blue is a major work of history by the Pulitzer Prize­winning author of Fire in the Lake. Using the Star Wars missile defense program as a magnifying glass on his presidency, Frances FitzGerald gives us a wholly original portrait of Ronald Reagan, the most puzzling president of the last half of the twentieth century. Reagan's presidency and the man himself have always been difficult to fathom. His influence was enormous, and the few powerful ideas he espoused remain with us still -- yet he seemed nothing more than a charming, simple-minded, inattentive actor. FitzGerald shows us a Reagan far more complex than the man we thought we knew. A master of the American language and of self-presentation, the greatest storyteller ever to occupy the Oval Office, Reagan created a compelling public persona that bore little relationship to himself. The real Ronald Reagan -- the Reagan who emerges from FitzGerald's book -- was a gifted politician with a deep understanding of the American national psyche and at the same time an executive almost totally disengaged from the policies of his administration and from the people who surrounded him. The idea that America should have an impregnable shield against nuclear weapons was Reagan's invention. His famous Star Wars speech, in which he promised us such a shield and called upon scientists to produce it, gave rise to the Strategic Defense Initiative. Reagan used his sure understanding of American mythology, history and politics to persuade the country that a perfect defense against Soviet nuclear weapons would be possible, even though the technology did not exist and was not remotely feasible. His idea turned into a multibillion-dollar research program. SDI played a central role in U.S.-Soviet relations at a crucial juncture in the Cold War, and in a different form it survives to this day. Drawing on prodigious research, including interviews with the participants, FitzGerald offers new insights into American foreign policy in the Reagan era. She gives us revealing portraits of major players in Reagan's administration, including George Shultz, Caspar Weinberger, Donald Regan and Paul Nitze, and she provides a radically new view of what happened at the Reagan-Gorbachev summits in Geneva, Reykjavik, Washington and Moscow. FitzGerald describes the fierce battles among Reagan's advisers and the frightening increase of Cold War tensions during Reagan's first term. She shows how the president who presided over the greatest peacetime military buildup came to espouse the elimination of nuclear weapons, and how the man who insisted that the Soviet Union was an "evil empire" came to embrace the Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, and to proclaim an end to the Cold War long before most in Washington understood that it had ended. Way Out There in the Blue is a ground-breaking history of the American side of the end of the Cold War. Both appalling and funny, it is a black comedy in which Reagan, playing the role he wrote for himself, is the hero.

America's Star Wars Program

America's Star Wars Program PDF Author: Ann Byers
Publisher: The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc
ISBN: 9781404202870
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 68

Get Book

Book Description
The Strategic Defense Initiative was a defense program supported by President Ronald Reagan that aimed to take the arms race to outer space. Though never carried out, and dubbed “Star Wars” by its critics, it was the nail in the coffin for the Cold War and therefore considered successful, at least in part. This thorough profile takes the reader behind the scenes and helps explain why this initiative still holds interest for leaders looking for new ways to defend the U.S.