The Effects of Nuclear Weapons

By Samuel Glasstone and Philip J Dolan

A canonical Cold War reference work, this volume on the effects of nuclear weapons represents one of the defining public documents of the atomic age. Originally prepared under the joint sponsorship of the United States Department of Defense and the Department of Energy, it served for decades as the standard unclassified reference on nuclear weapons phenomena, consulted by military planners, civil defense officials, scientists, and policymakers who needed authoritative data on what nuclear detonations actually do. The scope is comprehensive and systematic. Coverage addresses the physics of nuclear explosions from fission and fusion through the partitioning of energy into blast, thermal radiation, and nuclear radiation. Detailed chapters treat blast wave propagation and structural damage at varying distances and yields, thermal radiation effects including ignition ranges and burn casualty projections, initial and residual nuclear radiation including fallout formation and distribution patterns, electromagnetic pulse characteristics, and the effects of nuclear detonations at high altitude and underwater. Scaling laws allow readers to extrapolate effects across weapon yields, while extensive tables and graphs provide the quantitative data that made this work an operational reference rather than merely a descriptive account. The treatment reflects the document's dual purpose as both a technical manual for professionals and an educational resource for a broader audience. The core phenomena are explained with sufficient rigor to support engineering calculations, while introductory sections provide context accessible to readers without specialized physics backgrounds. This combination made the original edition one of the most widely distributed government technical publications of the Cold War era, found in university libraries, government offices, and private collections worldwide. This Frontier Model Bibliophile edition republishes the public-domain text with its full technical apparatus intact, including the tables, charts, scaling curves, and worked examples that constitute much of the volume's practical value. The original formatting and reference structure are preserved, maintaining the work's utility for researchers who need to cite specific data points or cross-reference with the broader nuclear effects literature. The volume's significance extends beyond its technical content. As a cultural artifact, it documents how the United States government chose to communicate nuclear weapons effects to a public audience during the Cold War, what it chose to quantify, what it chose to illustrate, and what frameworks it provided for thinking about nuclear conflict. Civil defense historians, nuclear policy scholars, and historians of science will find it as valuable for what it reveals about institutional communication as for the technical data it contains. Intended for readers in military history, nuclear policy, Cold War studies, civil defense history, physics, and anyone seeking to understand the physical realities underlying nuclear deterrence theory and arms control negotiations.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0H7BBR9HR
• ISBN13: 9798259502574
• Release Date: June 2026
• Publisher: Frontier Model Bibliophile
• Length: 306 Pages
• Weight: 1.57 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 8.5" x 11.0"