Attack Warning Red!: How Britain Prepared for Nuclear War

*A BBC RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK and GUARDIAN BEST PAPERBACK OF APRIL 2024* The first book to tell the story of day-to-day life on the nuclear home front - from the host of #1 podcast Atomic Hobo 'So entertaining' The Times 'Cracking' Sunday Telegraph The atomic bombs of 1945 changed war forever. The awesome power of the blast and its deadly fallout meant home in Britain fell under the nuclear shadow, and the threat of annihilation coloured every aspect of ordinary life for the next forty years. Families were encouraged to construct makeshift shelters with cardboard and sandbags. Vicars and pub landlords learnt how to sound hand-wound sirens, offering four minutes to scramble to safety. Thousands volunteered to give nuclear first aid, often consisting of breakfast tea, herbal remedies, and advice on how to die without contaminating others. And while the public had to look after themselves, bunkers were readied for the officials and experts who would ensure life continued after the catastrophe. Today we may read about the Cold War and life in Britain under the shadow of the mushroom cloud with a sense of amusement and relief that the apocalypse did not happen. But it is also a timely and powerful reminder that, so long as nuclear weapons exist, the nuclear threat will always be with us. 'Impossible to believe, just as hard to put down' Dan Snow 'Simultaneously horrifying, weirdly nostalgic and darkly hilarIous' Mark Haddon, author of The Porpoise

About the Author :
Julie McDowall is a freelance journalist and book critic specialising in the nuclear threat. Her writing has appeared in The Times, Economist, Spectator, Guardian, TLS, Prospect and Independent, and she is also the host of the Atomic Hobo podcast in which she reveals findings in the nuclear archives and reports on her travels to nuclear bunkers and other Cold War sites.

Review :
Timely ... McDowall's excellent book is a chilling reminder of the horrific reality of nuclear war Cracking So entertaining Very good ... A sobering book, but a gripping one Julie McDowall's thoroughly gripping study ... makes for genuinely startling and sometimes darkly funny reading... [it's] brilliantly chilling and sparkily engaging Attack Warning Red! is a timely reminder of the mind-blanking horror of nuclear warfare, as it menaces Europe once more An atomic Dad's Army, McDowall's history of the UK's nuclear civil defence is full of hilarious gems Most interesting Simultaneously horrifying, weirdly nostalgic and darkly hilarious Impossible to believe, just as hard to put down. Urgent. Terrifying Superb ... a lucid, totally compulsive read from beginning to end, chilling as well as profoundly empathetic in tone Brilliant and unforgettable ... A beautifully writtern horror story and amazing work of research ... Julie McDowall has made the unreadable compulsive and the unthinkable thinkable, but above all this is a book that cherishes humanity in all its absurdity, intelligence, vulnerability, courage and, against all odds, belief in hope and survival Captivating, chilling, and at times darkly humorous. A fascinating insight into Britain's preparations for surviving Armageddon, and the ghastly reality of what the aftermath of a nuclear war would actually be like Fascinating How to prepare for Armageddon? Julie McDowell has written the best exploration yet of how successive British administrations grappled with the challenge of living under the shadow of nuclear war, with depth, compassion and very necessary dark humour This by turns harrowing and farcical book charts the reality of living under constant threat of nuclear oblivion Timely ... harrowing ... farcical ... the most surprising aspect of Attack Warning Red!, however, is that, alongside generous helpings of fear and unease, it carries a strong charge of nostalgia Attack Warning Red! effectively pulls together many strands from this unsettling aspect of British history and weaves them in a way that will alarm and entertain A fascinating read McDowall's book has the tone of a podcast [...] She leads her audience round bunkers, propaganda films and government records, pointing out the horrifying, the unexpected and the absurd Grimly funny reading… this grimly entertaining history of our preparation for mass destruction is both timely and troubling Fascinating ... a chilling glimpse of an alternative world An unsettling festive read A superb achievement ... a lucid, totally compulsive read from beginning to end, chilling as well as profoundly empathetic in tone