There have been scientific studies of the nuclear arms race, and there have been political exposés -- yet no book until now has given the general reader a complete and accessible history of the events, forces and factors that have brought the world to the brink of a nuclear holocaust. In this revealing account, Ronald Powaski examines two basic questions: What keeps the nuclear arms race going and why is it so difficult to end? Starting with the opening days of World War II, when Roosevelt gave the go-ahead for the secret development of the atom bomb, the famous Manhattan Project, Powaski traces the unfolding arms race up to the current day. He takes us through Truman's decision to use the bomb against Japan in 1945, the Cold War era and the missile crisis of Kennedy's administration, to the detente years of the seventies and the defense and arms control policies of Ronald Reagan, including "Star Wars" and START (the Strategic Arms Reduction Talks). As Powaski explains, both the United States and the Soviet Union now have a combined total of almost 50,000 nuclear weapons. Nuclear arms treaties and agreements are threatening to collapse, he argues, while the proliferation of nuclear materials and weapons throughout the world has given many countries the capability to produce nuclear weapons. Emphasizing the role of the United States, Powaski shows how one president after another has promised to do his utmost to end the nuclear weapons competition, yet each one has actually increased the quantity or quality of these weapons in the American arsenal. March to Armageddon reveals this startling discrepancy between presidential words and actions.--Publisher description.

Includes index.

Roosevelt and the Manhattan Project, 1939-1945 --Truman, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki, 1945 -- Truman and International Control of the Atom, 1945-1947 -- Truman, the Cold War, and the Hydrogen Bomb, 1947-1952 -- Eisenhower and Massive Retaliation, 1953-1961 -- Eisenhower and Nuclear Arms Control, 1953-1961 -- Kennedy, Nuclear Weapons, and the Limited Test Ban Treaty, 1961-1963 -- Johnson, Nuclear Weapons, and the Pursuit of SALT, 1963-1969 -- Nixon and SALT I, 1969-1972 -- Nixon, Ford, and the Decline of Detente, 1972-1977 -- Carter and SALT II, 1977-1981 -- Reagan and the "Rearmament" of America, 1981-1983 -- Reagan and Nuclear Arms Talks, 1981 to the Present.