War Stars

"A helful supplementary source for my course. This ia a provocative reading of the American fascination with the superweapon--the sort of tour de force for which Franklin has become noted."--Robert Lee Stuart, University of Redlands "This is a wonderful book and a very important one."--Michael Levy, Univ. of Wisconsin-Stout "[Franklin] provides intriguing examples and makes imaginative connections as he explores the fantasies of apocalyptic destruction....A work that provides striking insights into the fantasies and Faustian creations of the national subconscious."--American Historical Review "An excellent study in both contemporary culture and political history. A fascinating and insightful text, War Stars represents quite an achievement in U.S. scholarship."--Mathew Maher, State University of New York--Binghampton "A marvelous study that weaves together some of the most important developments in U.S. military history, a survey of popular literature, and an overview of American culture."--Choice "Many readers will challenge Franklin's harsh assessment of American motives and policies, but War Stars is so crammed with fascinating facts and ideas that it should interest people of all political persuasions....For those trying to comprehend the powerful effect of the SDI concept on the public imagination, it should be required reading."--Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists "War Stars ranges freely through the worlds of fiction, cinematography, technology, and politics....[Franklin] builds his case well."--American Literary History "In War Stars, H. Bruce Franklin writes American history from a new angle and, in the process, demolishes quite a few sacred cows. It astonished me--but it was totally convincing throughout."--Isaac Asimov "A searing and penetrating history of the American obsession with finding a technology that will end wars forever--and our conviction that, unlike other nations, we can be trusted not to misuse weapons of mass annihilation. Its analysis of American fiction and films provides a new dimension to the subject."--Carl Sagan "A wide-ranging, highly readable, and thoroughly stimulating book....Franklin's provocative study is essential to an understanding of the ideological and popular-culture dimensions of our long national obsession with superweaponry."--Paul Boyer, University of California, Los Angeles "A fascinating romp through the history of how Americans have imagined, feared, and longed for a future of technological supremacy in warfare."--Michael S. Sherry, Northwestern University If there is a future, and perhaps his book will help to insure there is one, then War Stars will become a classic."--John Seelye, University of Florida "Thought-provoking. Insightful. Brilliant. Franklin's historical analysis of the media's role marks a watershed in the debate over nuclear weapons and Star Wars. He has broken new ground in this book, which will be talked about for years to come. A real contribution."--Michio Kaku, City University of New York Graduate Center "War Stars, a penetrating and often disturbing study of why we create superweapons in the pursuit of 'security and peace,' places our culture on the analyst's couch."--The New York Times "An insightful and at times chilling analysis of the relationship between technology and the imagination....As Franklin ponders the future, much like a character in the novels he so skillfully analyzes, and wonders if 'perhaps our descendants will be able to look back at the culture of superweapons as a strange aberration in the prehistory of humanity."--American Book Review "Those who dismiss science fiction or popular literature as insignificant will find a telling counter-argument in this book....Students studying mainstream novels would learn much from exposure to such popular works, and what Franklin argues might cast light on more subtly expressed American ideologies."--American Literature "Impressive....Well written....This is an unusual book enjoyable, well worth reading and filled with unusual facts."--David Beilen, Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility "Very interesting...offers good insight into American culture and should provide a basis for much classroom discussion."--Robert W. Langran, Villanova University "Dazzling in its scope, dizzying in its erudition, War Stars is many books in one. In charting the ascent of the cult and culture of superweapons, Franklin maneuvers among a half-dozen modalities, from military history to film criticism, social commentary to literary analysis, media research to polemic....The book is so rich in particulars, so luminous with startling facts, surprising insights, and what at the risk of oxymoron I shall label telling trivia, that no critic's summary can do it justice. The only adequate review of War Stars is War Stars itself."--James Morrow, The New York Review of Science Fiction