Barry Goldwater Book

I got this book because I was at a luncheon with the author. He is a former Secretary of the Air Force, and by his own admission he was that because they ran out of other candidates (under President Ford). But it is full of stories of the Cold War, in particular the Strategic Air Command (the nuke types). His stories are ones that show the how human the men and women who were in charge of the weapons. In particular the fear and trembling when they received their orders. One story that sticks out was from the Cuban Missile Crisis.

"Picking up the tape, he saw the instructions from Moscow: the rocket forces were to go to 'Combat Mode.' In combat mode, weapons are loaded, communications frequencies changed, and operational documents distributed. that had never happened before in the Strategic Rocket Force, but everyone knew about the confrontation building up in Cuba. The regimental commander tried to open the secret package containing the authenticator. His hands were shaking so badly that he could not do it. The paper envelope was to be cut open with scissors or knife, but the officer cut himself instead."

AtTheAbyss is a collection of stories. By no means is it a reflection on what it all meant, or a discussion of politics or ideology. Those wanting a history that goes into the why would be disappointed. But it provides interesting background reading about what people were thinking and feeling at the time the events happened.