The Star Wars Enigma: Behind the Scenes of the Cold War Race for Missile Defense Review

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(More customer reviews)Author Nigel Hey revisits recent history in his entertaining and excellently researched narration of the Cold War's end. He examines the science -- or lack thereof -- economics and politics of the still controversial Strategic Defense Initiative -- "Star Wars." We find that the notion of a defense shield was Ronald Reagan's response to MAD -- mutual assured destruction. Reagan considered MAD dangerous, unstable and insane, exactly what the Soviets -- and many American critics -- thought of Reagan and his Star Wars concept. Hey presents careful analyses of all the key players from Sagdeev and Gorbachev to Teller, "Cap the Knife" Weinburger and George Shultz. He renders a surprising portrait of Ronald Reagan and his complex simplicity. Most importantly, Hey vividly explains the role that Star Wars played in the demise of the Cold War. And he reminds us how very dangerous those times were. The Star Wars Enigma is a rare blend of science, human nature, personalities, politics and history that makes for lively, thought-provoking reading.
Tony Fitzpatrick, science writer
Author of Signals from the Heartland, Walker and Company, New York

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The year 1982 was a desperate time for the U.S. defense community. The United States had no effective system to protect itself completely from a Soviet attack with nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missiles, which the Soviet Union possessed in large quantity, and the doomsday philosophy of mutually assured destruction seemed inescapable. But people in the Reagan administration, including Reagan himself, were not content with what they viewed as a morally unacceptable status quo. Then Adm. James Watkins, a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, asked, 'Wouldn't it be better if we could develop a system that would protect, rather than avenge, our people?" With that, the president's commitment to the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) became certain. Ultimately, SDI reflected Western political idealism, a powerful ingredient in the struggle to finally conquer the terrors of the Cold War and to allay the threat of nuclear holocaust. The Star Wars Enigma tells this dramatic story.

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