Nuclear Weapons Books : Cold War Secret Nuclear Bunkers: The Passive Defence of the Western World During the Cold War (Pen & Sword Military Classics)

Cold War Secret Nuclear Bunkers: The Passive Defence of the Western World During the Cold War (Pen & Sword Military Classics)

£5.16


A GRAPHIC INSIGHT INTO THE MURKY WORLD OF NUCLEAR DEFENCE. - I must admit that until I picked up this fantastic book I had no idea that these large undergound bunkers even existed. The rational behind these huge military civil defence bunkers came from the Cold War. And during the early 1950 s billions of pounds were diverted from the already war torn country to nuclear civil defence. It was feared by the governments that a nuclear attack could happen at any moment and they would need to take shelter to still govern. But not only run the devistated country but to wage nuclear war on the other countrys. So during this post war period thousands of huge bunkers were built in secret undergound across the country. This book delves into only just declassified files to look into the countries defence plans. The staggering idea is that only military and govenment personell would be housed in the large shelters. And if any civilain should find a bunker they would be killed on sight ! and not given refuge. A tell tale sign of a bunker are the large comm s masts not unlike mobile masts dotted about the countryside. I have been to Kelvingdon Hatch which is a large 3 floor Rotor station and it s a revelation. With it s mix of 1950 s to 80 s technology which would run the main base as it was in command of smaller council based defence stations in the Essex area. The whole complex is very eerie indeed and it s like stepping back 50 years. It does show how seriously the then Governments took the reality of a Nuclear attack. And at how little it thought of the Civil population at large should an attack happen !. This is a must buy and the book itself feels like a forbidden text due to it s nature. The bunker sites themselves are also a shock and even two such s proximity to my own home In Orpington.

Still Cuts it!!! - Whilst this is a reprint it has to be said that McCamley s seminal work still cuts it. What helps this is the vast array of sites included in the publication. If you need more of a contextual story of British defence then maybe Four Minute Warning by Clarke through Tempus is the one, however this book has some superb aspects to it. Read it or miss out.

Good Read - An excellent well researched book written in an easy to read style. Plenty of photographs and illustrations support the text. The subject matter was facinating.

Very Interesting - Bought this book and have to say it was superbly intersting and captivating.It describes ALL major construction projects over the world such as NORAD etc but also some of the projects I had never heard of such as the Diefenbunker in CanadaWell worth buying for the excellent analysis of all major projects

Forgotten Hidden History - As someone who used to work in the building pictured on the cover of Nick McCamley s book it was bound to hold some interest. Having read the book from cover to cover in one sitting I can only say that it is fortunate that somebody has been dedicated and indeed interested enough to research and document in a truly scholarly fashion the years of hidden history of underground citadels in the US and UK. The UK sites were for use in times of conflict, and latterly in the worst scenario imaginable. As such many were not neccessarily secret, just not publicised, and with the outbreak of peace that we encountered in Europe in the early 90s so many of these buildings were abandoned, demolished or disposed of. The history of these sites is recorded here in an unbiased and realistic reference work that is well presented and accurate. An excellent book that far outstrips all others on the subject read to date.




Cold War Secret Nuclear Bunkers: The Passive Defence of the Western World During the Cold War (Pen & Sword Military Classics)