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Fallout : Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown : A Librarian’s Perspective Review

Fallout by Steve Sheinkin is a well-researched narrative of the Cold War from the end of WWII through the Cuban Missile Crisis. I won’t say I enjoyed it – it really just made me angry at all the nonsense of the Cold War and war in general – but I do respect the book for what it is and recommend it for middle and high school libraries.

AUTHOR: Steve Sheinkin
SERIES: no
PUBLISHER: Roaring Brook Press
PUBLICATION DATE: September 7, 2021
PAGES: 352
GENRE: narrative nonfiction
SETTING: US, Russia, and multiple European countries from 1945-1962 (end of WWII through Cuban Missile Crisis)
GIVE IT TO: upper-MS, HS, adults

AWARDS AND KUDOS

  • six starred professional reviews
  • Sibert Medal nominee (2022)
  • NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book (2022)
  • Vermont Golden Dome Book Award Nominee (2023)

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

As World War II comes to a close, the United States and the Soviet Union emerge as the two greatest world powers on extreme opposites of the political spectrum.

After the United States showed its hand with the atomic bomb in Hiroshima, the Soviets refuse to be left behind. With communism sweeping the globe, the two nations begin a neck-and-neck competition to build even more destructive bombs and conquer the Space Race. In their battle for dominance, spy planes fly above, armed submarines swim deep below, and undercover agents meet in the dead of night.

The Cold War game grows more precarious as weapons are pointed towards each other, with fingers literally on the trigger. The decades-long showdown culminates in the Cuban Missile Crisis, the world’s close call with the third―and final―world war.

THE SHORT VERSION

This was super-interesting, but by about halfway through, I was just exhausted with the stupidity of the whole Cold War. It’s not necessarily a criticism of the book or the writing, but I struggled with the last half.

WHAT I LIKED

I’ve read lots of fiction novels about the Cold War period in history. I was in 9th grade in Virginia when the Berlin Wall came down, and I remember it well. I had a fantastic World Geography teacher who made sure we understood what was happening and why it was a huge deal. Thanks, Ms. Kotheimer!

Fallout is a thoroughly-researched, interesting history of the Cold War from WWII through the Cuban Missile Crisis. Sheinkin includes many details and specific stories of real people involved, both famous and unknown. I loved the spy gadgets, especially the hollowed-out coin, and the code breaking. I was shocked at the technology that was available at that time. Cameras small enough to fit inside a US nickel? Teeny-tiny video technology in the 1950s?

I listened to the audiobook version, and the Audible narrator Roy Samuelson reads at a nice, even pace that kept me interested. I did lose my focus on a few of the stories, but others kept me riveted.

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE

I felt like Sheinkin was overly-sympathetic and editorializing of President Kennedy. Were Kennedy’s thoughts taken from Kennedy’s journal or something? There was a lot of internal dialogue from Kennedy’s viewpoint, and all of it was super-sympathetic to Kennedy. It wasn’t clear in the audiobook if those thoughts came from Kennedy’s journal. If they did, then that should have been extremely clear, even in the audiobook. But if they didn’t, then Sheinkin’s bias is showing.

I was disappointed that the story mostly stopped after the Cuban Missile Crisis. The fall of the Berlin Wall and communism in the Eastern Bloc would have been much more interesting to me. These get a small mention in the last part. I get it; we’re talking 45 or so years of world history. It’s a lot for 352 pages. If Sheinkin wrote a “part two” of Fallout to include the Eastern Bloc, I’d totally read it.

My last major “didn’t like” for this book is more personal, and I’m not going to ding the book itself on this particular aspect. It isn’t author Steve Sheinkin’s fault that I feel this way.

I am an American who has chosen to live outside the US for nine years as of this writing. I now see the US from the outside-looking-in, and let me tell you, it isn’t pretty. So when I read this book, it was through a lens of an American who left years ago and has zero plans to return. If you are an American who says things like “The US is the greatest country on earth,” then I beg you to get on a plane and start travelling internationally. It’s quite eye-opening!

Anyway, back to the book. By about halfway through, I was so incredibly sick at the stupidity of the men (because all the major players here were wealthy, white men) in charge of keeping the Cold War and fear going for nearly 50 years. None of this was at all necessary. Like so many things today, the Cold War was based on fear and xenophobia, and contrary to popular American belief, the US was certainly no saint in this mess.

We (the US) were the ones that flattened Nagasaki and Hiroshima, after all.

We (the US, Canada, and the UK) put together and funded The Manhattan Project.

I was repeatedly reminded of Jeff Goldblum’s line in Jurassic Park: “Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn’t stop to think if they should.”

Indeed.

What really turns my stomach is just how close we actually came to nuclear war – a few times – and even worse, how the US and Russia are again embroiled a dick-measuring contest now in 2023.

How would this have played out had women been in charge? These men certainly couldn’t (and still cannot) handle themselves appropriately. History gives Kennedy and Khrushchev a lot of credit for avoiding WWIII. It’s awfully self-congratulatory, TBH. Plenty of countries managed to stay out of this mess. Plenty of countries didn’t create thousands of nuclear bombs. I give those leaders far, far more credit than I would ever give Kennedy or Khrushchev.

DIVERSITY

Lots of white men (both American and European) going around scaring everyone and making scary decisions. I didn’t like or root for a single one of them.

ARTWORK/ILLUSTRATIONS

I read the audiobook, so I did not view any artwork. There are black-and-white photographs at the beginning and end of chapters. Also includes source notes, bibliography, and index.

FALLOUT THEMES

Cold War, WWII, John F. Kennedy, Nikita Khrushchev, Cuban Missile Crisis, Bay of Pigs, Fidel Castro, spies, spy gadgets, codebreaking, nuclear weapons, bombs, fallout shelters, fear, xenophobia, end of the world, prisoners of war, space race

LIBRARIANS WILL WANT TO KNOW

Would adults like this book? YES

Would I buy this for my high school library? YES, no reservations

Would I buy this for my middle school library? YES, with some reservations

MATURE CONTENT

Language: some profanity; it can be hard for me to keep track of profanity on audiobooks, but I do remember some. It’s definitely not gratuitous, and I think most middle schoolers can handle it just fine.

Sexuality: none

Violence: constant threat of war, constant threat of bombing, denial of freedom, denial of civil rights

Drugs/Alcohol: a spy has a suicide pill that he considers, but does not take

Other:

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