The atom -- from H. G. Wells to Leo Szilard -- The dawn of the atomic age -- the bomb and Hiroshima -- The debate over nuclear refuge -- Do-it-yourself survival -- Philip Wylie on the state of the nation -- Cultural cycles in Walter M. Miller's A canticle for Leibowitz -- The pathology of warfare in Bernard Wolfe's Limbo -- Push-button holocaust in Mordecai Roshwald's Level 7 -- Whales, submarines, and the Bedford incident -- Nuclear safety procedures in Fail-safe -- Uncovering the death wish in Dr. Strangelove -- Mapping the postnuclear landscape -- Future reportage on World War III -- Beyond the Cold War.