ie They are NOT coming from overseas !!
FAIL-SAFE
- By Eugene Burdick & Harvey Wheeler -
ISBN:-
Publisher: Hutchinson of London, UK
Published: 1962
Binding: HARDcover 256 pages
Condition: read & displayed condition! HERE in MELBOURNE! A retired display
copy as illustrated!
Edition: FIRST UK EDITION: 1st printing 1963
TIGHT, SCARCE HARDCOVER WITH DUSTJACKET~ IN MELBOURNE ...
WHY do ebayers buy from US?
Because you KNOW what you're getting. My close up photos are of the actual item!!
This crimson flecked cloth boards HARDcover is read - it was the display copy in an academic's collection. It is Tight - neat, no inscriptions clean endpapers no marks within. Appears as in my photos - this is the exact copy!! A nicely preserved copy - superb!
Minor discernible shelf wear to the flecked crimson boards only, the interior is tight and generally clean with 256 pages. THIS copy is the FIRST UK EDITION: 1st printing from 1963 - the UK publishing by Hutchinson of London, UK, UK. Author portrait to back flap of dustjacket.
SCARCE title - this is a once read & displayed copy!!
In original crimson flecked cloth boards HARDcover binding (minor fade to top right corner), in publisher's dustjacket which has edgewear and underside repairs to edge/corners but which are in very good condition.
(Stored with 2021!)
Measures approx. 8¾ x 6inches or 22 x 14cms
SYNOPSIS ....
Something has gone wrong. A group of American bombers armed with nuclear weapons is streaking past the fail-safe point, beyond recall, and no one knows why. Their destination—Moscow.
In a bomb shelter beneath the White House, the calm young president turns to his Russian translator and says, "I think we are ready to talk to Premier Kruschchev." Not far away, in the War Room at the Pentagon, the secretary of defense and his aides watch with growing anxiety as the luminous blips crawl across a huge screen map. High over the Bering Strait in a large Vindicator bomber, a colonel stares in disbelief at the attack code number on his fail-safe box and wonders if it could possibly be a mistake.
First published in 1962, when America was still reeling from the Cuban missile crisis, Fail-Safe reflects the apocalyptic attitude that pervaded society during the height of the Cold War, when disaster could have struck at any moment. As more countries develop nuclear capabilities and the potential for new enemies lurks on the horizon, Fail-Safe and its powerful issues continue to respond.
Fail-Safe was a bestselling cold war thriller by Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler and was initially serialised in three instalments in the Saturday Evening Post, on October 13, 20, and 27, 1962, during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Later made into the famous movie starring Henry Fonda & Walter Matthau.
About the Author
Eugene Burdick was an American Political Scientist and co-author of The Ugly American (1958), Fail-Safe (1962) and The 480 (1965).
He was born in Sheldon, Iowa. His family moved to Los Angeles, California, when he was age 4. Burdick attended Stanford University and Oxford University where he earned a Ph.D. degree in psychology, and he worked at the department of Political Science at the University of California. In 1956, his critically acclaimed novel The Ninth Wave, a Houghton Mifflin Literary Fellowship winner, was published. At the end of the 1950s, he was among the first members of the Society for General Systems Research. He died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 46.
Very Interesting read!
Reviews
SUPERB!.... Fail-Safe is a first rate story - told with masterful suspense and tremendous skill.
FIVE STARS!! ....... Fail-Safe does a fantastic job of realising and capturing the fears of the moment in the moment as well as outlining the consequences for humanity. The authors of the book were both Poli-Sci professors at various prestigious schools - i.e. Harvard, University of California, Johns Hopkins, etc... you get the point. They probably knew what they were talking about. BUT Fail Safe wasn't written in some intellectual prose mumbo-jumbo that the Average Joe layperson *ahem* *me* couldn't understand. It was fast-paced and riveting.
Amazing .... This novel was the #6 bestseller of 1962. It was originally serialized in three weekly issues of the Saturday Evening Post in October, 1962, during the Cuban Missile Crisis. It was an eerie and discomforting read covering a possible breakdown of technology leading to nuclear war.
Of course, that was the fear I lived under in high school. That some mad man would "push the button" and within 24 hours we would all be fried and gone.
The book is liberally loaded with technical terms and nuclear gear, systems, etc. Much was made of the psychology behind military commanders. It gives a look into the secret bunkers and procedures for dealing with threats, attacks, and technical hitches. All of that was as fascinating to me as it must have been to the American public at the time.
The scenes where the President (obviously Kennedy though his name was never used) and Krushchev are on the top secret phone line working out a deal required a lot of suspension of disbelief on my part. It was pretty far from what I read in the Kennedy biography last year. The King Solomon-like deal that Kennedy made in this book was as melodramatic a climax as I have ever read.
I gained a new appreciation for what every President since Truman has had hanging over his head like a Damocles sword. Imagine holding the power to bring about the end of the world! I am still a pacifist, I still believe in nuclear disarmament, but I have got a more realistic idea about the possibilities of my dreams for our planet and mankind coming true.
Hands down the most relevant book I have read this year.
Holy Cow - this is an incredible read .... I don't think I could write a coherent review if I tried. Not many books actually have me gasping or yelling "Oh my god!" out loud. For a book written nearly 60 years ago, it's still packing a hell of a punch!!
WHAT A RIDE!!! .. What a ride. I read this all in one sitting at the airport, having read about it as novelette with a surprising twist. I audibly gasped, startling my wife when that occurred. Written during the Cold War, about how precarious the tensions, and government procedures could be during the Cold War, was very interesting to read. The sheer mechanisms that could be in place, to ensure each Nuclear Power was ready to strike back, was startling and troubling to read about. I couldn't help but imagine what our current leadership would do in the situation, I certainly wouldn't want that job. Well worth a read!
Really great read ...... now I am hooked. This was such a great, easy and creative book. I was hooked after the first page. The characters were easy to fall in love with and follow, along with the story. the author made the mental visions so easy and vivid of the surroundings and the characters actions felt so real. I would highly recommend this author and this book.
Marvellous Reading!
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