Nuclear proliferation has captured the public’s attention throughout the years, and for good reason. Whether you lived through the “duck and cover” drills of the postwar years, the historic Iran nuclear deal of 2015, or have only recently taken an interest due to the release of Oppenheimer, the Christopher Nolan film about the father of the atomic bomb, nuclear weapons have been a topic of conversation—and fear—ever since they were first deployed during the tragic bombing of Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the close of World War II. There are endless political discussions to be had about how to regulate them, and philosophical debates to be made about the ethics of engineering technology that could lead to our own destruction as a species.
Such discussions peaked during the Cold War, when tensions between the US and the Soviet Union led to credible fears of a looming nuclear war initiated by one or both nations. Although the benefit of hindsight now reveals that the countries only occasionally came to blows during proxy conflicts of the Cold War, the possibility was a topic on everyone’s minds, from top government officials to schoolchildren. Mushroom Cloud, the first installment in a planned trilogy of historical novels, is set in the midst of this uncertain time period.
Written by Thomas Yeggy, a former lawyer and judge who turned to researching this topic because he “always wonder[ed] how we had made it through crisis after crisis without destroying ourselves despite our proclivity to use violence as a problem-solving mechanism”, Mushroom Cloud is a fact-based historical novel and a product of Yeggy’s search for answers.
Set in the 60s, it centers around the fictional Dr. Caleb Young, a brilliant physicist and chief science officer for the CIA. A pacifist in the vein of Albert Einstein—not that he would ever admit that to his colleagues—Young is determined to prevent the US from launching an ill-advised preemptive nuclear strike. In fact, it’s been his priority for the past decade. However, the Department of Justice has many questions for him, and is prepared to prosecute him on trumped-up espionage charges if that’s what it takes to gain crucial intelligence about the Bay of Pigs disaster, the CIA’s involvement in John F. Kennedy’s assassination, and more.
A gripping new novel, Mushroom Cloud, with its historically accurate setting and events, will intrigue anyone seeking to learn more about nuclear disarmament. Even history buffs may find they’ll learn something new within its pages.
Want to know more? Download Mushroom Cloud today, and keep an eye out for future installments in the First Strike series: Finding Designated Ground Zero and Armageddon.
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Featured image: Colin Lloyd / Unsplash
