Broken Arrow: The Declassified History of U.S. Nuclear Weapons Accidents

This is a most discomfiting book, but one that is long overdue. The two authors - both experienced Nuclear technicians and accident investigators have given us a unique insight into the normally obscured world of such weapons. If there is any shortcoming here , it would be in the area of photography. Many of the photos appear to be xerox copies of photos , which is probably the best that the authors could get from the USAF , USN or NEC files. There is a goodly collection of USAF Form 14s,(the original source documents) to add more authentic flavor to this text. It is important to remember when reading of these 40 incidents though , that considering the extent of our Nuclear stockpile,the areas of use, the movement of the Weapons all over the world, and the number of days, months and years when these devices were in use, that the accident ratio is extraordinarily low. This is a tribute to the hard work and absolute dedication of of the men and women of our Armed Services who have cared for, maintained, stored, fixed, sweated over, cursed at and when necessarily - put themselves in harm's way- to keep our Nation's Number One Deterrent safe, secure and ready for use had it been necessary. And thankfully-so far- these Devices of unimaginable power have not been used.The two authors - both USAF retirees and highly experienced Nuclear technicians have done as good a job on this subject as the civilian world is ever likely to see. As a USAF Retiree and former Missile Combat Crew Commander in the Titan II program, and thus a sometime Nuclear Custodian myself, I can appreciate the sheer amount of effort these two gentlemen have put into the project, prying sensitive (but long-declassified) documents out of the files and into the light of day. Gentlemen: Well Done!A highly recommended reference.

This is a good starting point for those who wish to learn about vehicles and weapons which had been lost at sea, oceans or found on land. My only reason for giving it four stars was that several of the photos included were of such poor quality that they barely justified being added to the book. However, I understand the authors were probably confronted with the alternative which was to omit them altogether--and slight the skepticism readers might have about the actual events portrayed. Otherwise some good reprints from official reports (reprinted) herein and other excellent phptographs. Remember personally many of the incidents from my childhood and new ones never revealed to me previously. Recommend book.

Just got my copy a few hrs ago and can't put it down. It discusses incidents i never knew about and contains new details on the incidents i did know about. I didnt expect it to be such an exciting read.

I greatly appreciate the authors' use of "accidents" in lieu of the somewhat sickening synonym "mishaps". I also like names being in the reports; not to point a finger, but because they became part of history. The NTSB quit putting names in their accident reports 20 years ago, something the old CAB they replaced never did. My minor criticism would be desire for better reproduction of the documents.

Very disappointing. Mostly old declassified documents that are difficult to read. Photos are not well copied. Not enough reading material.

Thank you for writing this book. my father's " accident" is in the book, July 13, 1950, his name was Captain Paul Anderson. This is probably the most information that we have gotten since it is still classified top secret.

I realize most of the book is transcribed from original documentation, so I assume the incredibly large number of errors were present in those originals and simply transcribed verbatim. If not, the proofreaders should be fired. Otherwise, the book was a most interesting read about an "exciting" time in US history. Having grown up in the 60's near a SAC base, the book brought back a lot of memories.

Great summary of the history of US nuclear weapons accidents.

A very detailed description of incidents with Us nuclear weapons, as well as its causes, consequences and aftermath.Almost with no exception pictures are very low in quality, and this is unacceptably dreadful (some are available in the internet with a lot more of detail).