Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fail-Safe | 1999 | Harvey Wheeler | Buy |
Harvey Wheeler’s most famous work is Fail-Safe, co-written with Eugene Burdick and published in 1962. The novel imagines an American nuclear bomber group accidentally ordered to strike Moscow because of a computer malfunction, forcing the president to make impossible decisions to prevent all-out nuclear war.
Fail-Safe became a bestseller and was adapted into a 1964 film directed by Sidney Lumet. The book arrived at the right moment, tapping into genuine public fear about the Cold War arms race and the fragility of the systems designed to prevent catastrophe.