At its core, this book is a history of the Strategic Air Command's alert bomber force. Given the interconnected nature of U.S. strategic systems, this leads Kenney to touch on early warning radar, the evolution of nuclear weapons and air defenses as well. Largely separate from this core theme, he also includes two in-depth story lines about the costs of this era: the plight of personnel exposed to fallout during Operation Castle and the collapse of Texas Tower 4, an early warning radar site constructed in the Atlantic Ocean.

Keeney manages to capture the feeling of an extended television documentary in a book. He weaves brief and vivid vignettes together much as an editor stitches film clips together in a documentary. It creates an easy and engaging read at the expense of the depth that could be produced by a more sustained focus on the themes of the book. This is not a serious history; there are, for example, no footnotes or end notes, which will frustrate serious Cold War buffs. What Kenney does well in capturing the atmosphere of a time, while offering an interesting high-level survey of the history of SAC war plans and alert postures. Bottom-line: an enjoyable, non-academic sweep over the period when bombers constituted the bulk of the U.S. nuclear deterrent. ( )