Face to Face with the Bomb: Nuclear Reality after the Cold War

Rating:
Summary: An Unprecedented View into the Abyss
Review: This is a thoroughly amazing book of photographs, made possible only because of the brief moments of comparative access atomic photographers (and yes, they have a guild) had between the end of the cold war and 9/11. I've also labored in this vineyard; no one surpasses Shambroom. The book illustrates the Robert Jay Lifton remark he cites at its conclusion: "We must look into the abyss to see beyond it." That pisgah view is what Paul Shambroom gives us. Although he says he intended to neither "criticize" nor "glorify" the weapons, his book does both and neither. Many of the images of our Triadic nuclear forces (and Command and Control structures) horrify with their surreal details; but his fine art photography also beguiles us with some true glimpses of the nuclear sublime. (Plate 35's North Dakota missile silo has the same elegance as a Hudson River School landscape, for example.)
This coffee table volume from hell gets under your skin; these images have entered my dreams.... Even if you aren't interested in this subject, this book is worth a look -- and an excellent introduction to the secret world our tax dollars fund. (Every American should be issued a copy at birth.) This is what lies under the rock of the national security state. We pay for it; thanks to Paul Shambroom, you can see what you're buying into.
Many of the images will surprise you with their power. I won't give any of this away; check this one out for yourself. You won't be sorry you did.