Churchill and the Bomb in War and Cold War

Covering the development of the atomic bomb during the Second World War, the origins and early course of the Cold War, and the advent of the hydrogen bomb in the early 1950s, Churchill and the Bomb explores a still neglected aspect of Winston Churchill''s career - his relationship with and thinking on nuclear weapons. Kevin Ruane shows how Churchill went from regarding the bomb as a weapon of war in the struggle with Nazi Germany to viewing it as a weapon of communist containment (and even punishment) in the early Cold War before, in the 1950s, advocating and arguably pioneering what would become known as "mutually assured destruction" as the key to preventing the Cold War flaring into a calamitous nuclear war. While other studies of Churchill have touched on his evolving views on nuclear weapons, few historians have given this hugely important issue the kind of dedicated and sustained treatment it deserves. In Churchill and the Bomb , however, Kevin Ruane has undertaken extensive primary research in Britain, the United States and Europe, and accessed a wide array of secondary literature, in producing an immensely readable yet detailed, insightful and provocative account of Churchill''s nuclear hopes and fears.

About the author

Kevin Ruane is Professor of Modern History at Canterbury Christ Church University, UK

Product details

• Authors: Kevin (Canterbury Christ Church University Ruane, Ruane Kevin, Kevin Ruane
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Content: Book
• Product form: Paperback / Softback
• Publication date: 26.07.2018
• Subject: Non-fiction book > History > Miscellaneous; Social sciences, law, business > Political science > Political science and political education; Humanities, art, music > History > 20th century (up to 1945)
• EAN: 9781472530806
• ISBN: 978-1-4725-3080-6
• Pages: 424
• Dimensions (packing): 15.8 x 23.4 x 2.4 cm
• Subjects: Zweiter Weltkrieg, Internationale Beziehungen, Kalter Krieg, 1950 bis 1959 n. Chr., 1940 bis 1949 n. Chr., Europäische Geschichte, Vereinigtes Königreich, Großbritannien, Geschichte allgemein und Weltgeschichte, Vierziger Jahre, European History, Atomwaffen, HISTORY / Military / World War II, Internationale Zusammenarbeit, HISTORY / Military / General, POLITICAL SCIENCE / International Relations / Arms Control, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Geopolitics, POLITICAL SCIENCE / International Relations / General, 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000, Europa / Geschichte, Kulturgeschichte, Fünfziger Jahre / Roman, Erzählung, Großbritannien / Geschichte, Politik, Gesellschaft, Recht, Weltkrieg / Zweiter Weltkrieg, Weltkrieg 1939/45, Krieg / Kalter Krieg, Atombombe - Atomwaffe, HISTORY / Modern / 20th Century, POLITICAL SCIENCE / World / European, HISTORY / Europe / Great Britain / 20th Century, HISTORY / Military / Nuclear Warfare, British & Irish history, Second World War, United Kingdom, Great Britain, c 1938 to c 1946 (World War Two period), c 1950 to c 1959, Nuclear weapons, Modern warfare, c 1939 to c 1945 (including WW2), The Cold War, C 1945 To C 1960, Cold wars and proxy conflicts, Arms negotiation & control, Arms negotiation and control, HISTORY / Wars & Conflicts / General, History / Wars & Conflicts / World War II / European Theater