Broad William J. Teller's War: The Top-Secret Story Behind the Star Wars Deception

Simon and Schuster, 1992. — 350 p.Written by the Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and author of Star Warriors: A Penetrating Look into the Lives of the Young Scientists Behind Our Space Age Weaponry ( LJ 1/86), this book examines atomic scientist Edward Teller's Strategic Defense Initiative (Star Wars). Broad investigates what motivated the hydrogen bomb's creator to conceive a vastly ambitious array of defensive weaponry which, contrary to Teller's assertions, would fuel the nuclear arms race rather than end it. This vivid portrait of the genius behind America's nuclear weapons' program grapples with why Teller was driven to misrepresent the capabilities of Star Wars to the national security establishment, Reagan, and Bush. The Cold War is over but new rationales are being found for this program. Broad's book provides a public service in exposing it. The book is appropriate for informed laypersons, and essential for specialists in the field of nuclear weapons.