A Fiery Peace in a Cold War: Bernard Schriever and the Ultimate Weapon

564 Pages·2010·198.445 MB·English

by  Neil Sheehan

COLD WAR
BERNARD SCHRIEVEARND
| a Lpeetianieiess WEAPON
“Excellent. ... Deeply researched, compulsively readable and important.

Praise for Neil Sheehan’s
if ELE RY. PEAGE IN A COLD: WAR
“A deep look at American defensive thinking in the Cold War... .
Sheehan’s book is rich in cultural detail, beyond iconic moments of
the Cold War as refracted through the lens of the missile race.”
—Newsday
“An ambitious story. Sheehan tells it well.”
—The Dallas Morning News
“Absorbing. . . . Sheehan is a terrific reporter and an excellent writer,
capable of weaving multiple story lines into a seamless narrative. . . .
Unforgettable. . .. More than a worthy successor to A Bright Shining
Lie. ...It is hard to imagine a more accomplished and informative
exposé of the deep gears grinding in the engine room of the Cold
War.” —The Oregonian
“A success story, in which the military, or a part of it anyway, instead
of becoming mired in a folly of its own creation, prevailed over bu-
reaucracy and incompetence and probably averted catastrophe.”
—The New York Times
“Fascinating. ... Sheehan’s scope is vast, and the narrative proceeds
with the measured beauty of a complex mathematical proof.” —GO
“Neil Sheehan is a master of historical portraiture. His new book casts

light on a critical but largely forgotten moment of the Cold War, with
all the dazzling research and authority we have come to expect from
him. Sheehan tells a fascinating story wonderfully vividly.”
—Sir Max Hastings
“Schriever is a charismatic figure, and the supporting characters are
fascinating, too.” —The New Yorker
“Schriever’s part in the development of the ICBM is a story that needed
to be told... . and Sheehan tells it with enthusiasm.”
—The Boston Globe
“Here, masterfully recounted, is the epic tale of the decisive scientific
battle of the Cold War—for supremacy of the skies and space—told
through the remarkable story of Air Force general Bennie Schriever.
Once again, the legendary reporter Neil Sheehan has unearthed a hid-
den trove of the history of our time. . .. A stunning achievement.”
—Carl Bernstein
“Sheehan does an excellent job of describing, in terms that a layman
can follow, the technical challenges involved in developing an ICBM
and how they were overcome.”
—Michael Dobbs, The Washington Post
“A fascinating tale.” —The Times-Picayune (New Orleans)
“Neil Sheehan has triumphed again in this sweeping and absolutely
fascinating book. . . . Sheehan takes on the epic tale of how science,
the military, and politics became interwoven during the Cold War. It’s
a crucially important topic, but also a colorful narrative tale filled
with memorable characters such as Bennie Schriever and the geniuses

he enlisted in his cause.” —Walter Isaacson
“A story of many characters, and some of the major ones, such as
mathematician John von Neumann and Gen. Curtis LeMay, are very
colorful. ... There is much to like in this book... . Sheehan’s book
helps make sense of things we know.” —The Seattle Times
“In this amazing book, Neil Sheehan shows us how the grand move-
ments of history turn on the character of individuals. A Fiery Peace in
a Cold War is the gripping account of the events, largely hidden until
now, that saved the Cold War from turning into Armageddon.”
—Anthony Lewis
NEIL SHEEHAN
A PIERY/PEACE INA COLD WAR
Neil Sheehan is the author of A Bright Shining Lie, which won the Na-
tional Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction in 1989. He
spent three years in Vietnam as a war correspondent for United Press
International and The New York Times and won numerous awards
for his reporting. In 1971, he obtained the Pentagon Papers, which
brought the Times the Pulitzer Prize Gold Medal for meritorious pub-
lic service. Sheehan lives in Washington, D.C. He is married to the
writer Susan Sheehan.
ALSO BY NEIL SHEEHAN
A Bright Shining Lie
The Arnheiter Affair

After the War Was Over
A.PIERY

PEG Boia
COLD WAR

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COLD WAR

Bernard Schriever and the Ultimate Weapon

VINTAGE BOOKS
A DIVISION OF RANDOM HOUSE, INC.
NEW YORK
FIRST VINTAGE BOOKS EDITION, OCTOBER 2010
Copyright © 2009 by Neil Sheehan
All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Vintage Books,
a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and in Canada by Random House
of Canada Limited, Toronto. Originally published in hardcover in the United States by
Random House, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group,
a division of Random House, Inc., New York, in 2009.
Vintage and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
The Library of Congress has cataloged the Random House edition as follows:

Sheehan, Neil.
A fiery peace in a cold war : Bernard Schriever and the ultimate weapon / Neil Sheehan.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Schriever, Bernard A. 2. United States. Air Force—Officers—Biography.
3. Generals—United States—Biography. 4. Military engineers—United States—Biography.
5. Intercontinental ballistic missiles—Design and construction—History.
6. Intercontinental ballistic missiles—United States—History. 7. Nuclear weapons—
United States—History. 8. Cold War. 9. Aeronautics, Military—Research—
United States—History. 10. Astronautics—Research—United States—History.
I. Title.
E745.S34S44 2009
355.0092—dc22
[B] 2009002247
Vintage ISBN: 978-0-679-74549-5
Author photograph © Ron Blunt
Book design by Caroline Cunningham
www. vintagebooks.com
Printed in the United States of America
10) 9°88 716 (S) 4" Boe