{"product_id":"the-six-minute-war-michael-dobbs-9781668052594","title":"The Six Minute War: Reagan, Russia and the Race to Automate Armageddon","description":"\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e bestselling author Michael Dobbs reconstructs the thrilling inside story of the climactic nuclear crisis of the Cold War, revealing the tension between \"the human in the loop\" and the algorithms that could trigger World War III.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe year is 1983. Ronald Reagan is obsessed by biblical prophecies of Armageddon. A computer revolution is changing everything--from the way we track incoming ballistic missiles to how we share and consume information. And then, over just three months, a series of dramatic events encapsulates the president's worst nightmares. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In rapid succession, a South Korean airliner is shot down over the Soviet Union after straying off course because of pilot-computer miscommunication. A glitchy Soviet early warning system mistakenly reports an incoming US missile attack. The Kremlin puts its nuclear forces on high alert in response to a routine NATO nuclear release exercise. Reagan deploys missiles capable of destroying the Kremlin in six minutes from their launch positions in West Germany. Soviet nuclear submarines are stationed off Cape Hatteras, ready to obliterate the White House in the same amount of time. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \"Six minutes to decide how to respond to a blip on a radar scope and decide whether to unleash Armageddon!\" Reagan recalled many years later, in a little-noticed passage in his memoirs. \"How could anyone apply reason at a time like that?\" \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In \u003ci\u003eThe Six Minute War\u003c\/i\u003e, the former Moscow bureau chief for \u003ci\u003eThe Washington Post\u003c\/i\u003e explores the challenge confronting fallible human leaders responding to ever-shrinking warning times of a nuclear attack. A nail-biting narrative of the Cold War crisis that heralded the fall of the Soviet Union, \u003ci\u003eThe Six Minute War\u003c\/i\u003e poses an existential question: can we trust the machines at such life-or-death moments--or will we be destroyed by our own technological hubris?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Michael Dobbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1668052598\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781668052594\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Simon \u0026amp; Schuster\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 10\/20\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 352\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.28lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.99d","brand":"Michael Dobbs","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":48447355158783,"sku":"9781668052594","price":30.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_e682b6f6-af6c-40e6-bc38-621e454cf82b.jpg?v=1777230550","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-six-minute-war-michael-dobbs-9781668052594","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}