This image is the cover for the book Fail-Safe

Fail-Safe

From the New York Times–bestselling authors, this “chilling and engrossing” nuclear-showdown thriller packs “a multi-megaton wallop” (Chicago Tribune).

Originally published during the Cuban Missile Crisis, this suspenseful novel takes off as a group of American bombers—armed with a deadly payload of nuclear weapons—heads towards Moscow, their motives unknown. Suddenly, a nuclear apocalypse looms closer than it ever has, and the lives of millions depend on the high-stakes diplomacy of leaders on both sides of the divide.

The basis for the classic 1964 movie starring Henry Fonda, this two-million-copy bestseller is not only a terrifying thriller, but a fascinating social commentary on Cold War politics and a look at how, in a world poised on the brink, accidents and mistakes can have catastrophic consequences. Exploring the thin line between peace and global destruction that characterized this turbulent era, it is as timely as ever—“gripping, exciting and almost unbearably fascinating” (Los Angeles Times).

“Excruciatingly tense.” —The Wall Street Journal

Eugene Burdick, Harvey Wheeler

Born in Sheldon, Iowa, Eugene Burdick (1918–1965) was a professor of political science at the University of California at Berkeley. He served as chairman of the World Affairs Council in San Francisco and as one of the first members of the Society for General Systems Research. He published his first novel, The Ninth Wave, in 1956. He is the author of the bestselling thriller The Ugly American, along with Bill Lederer.

An American author and professor of political philosophy at Harvard and Johns Hopkins, Harvey Wheeler (1918–2004) is also the author of several fiction and nonfiction books, as well as a founding editor of the Journal of Social and Biological Structures. His books include Rise of the Elders, Lattimore the Scholar, and Democracy in a Revolutionary Era.

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