Overview

A courageous and noble exploration of the cause and consequences of one of the most fateful acts in human history Udall's explorations began as a result of his discovery that Atomic Energy Commission officials had lied about the health effects of the atmospheric bomb tests from the Nevada test site in the 1950s, in the course of some of his unsuccessful legal representation of some of its victims. Here as always he names in his indictment of those officials who invoked national security reasons for their inexcusable behavior. . . .Udall is the highest-ranking public official with the courage and wisdom to tell us why we must end our cold war affair with the atom. The NationThis timely and important book. Stewart Udall describes how since the end of World War II a small cleared elite group of nuclear scientists and bureaucrats has used the cloak of secrecy to limit public and Congressional oversight of America's nuclear policies. The tragic results, such as nuclear testing on unwitting Americans, are only now receiving public attention. The Myths of August makes a persuasive argument that excessive government secrecy erodes the foundation of a democratic society.Senator Dale Bumpers [This] is a book about lies the kind of lies we tell ourselves to evade or obscure the truth of what we do or of who we are, the kind of lies we tell others to hide the same truths. Only here the we is the government of the United States, and the lies have to do with the machinery of deception that once kept this nation in thrall to an idea so fundamentally wrongheaded as to cross the line that separates stupidity from insanity . . . Udall gives us a solid grasp of the historical context in which the ghastly drama played itself out. He also attempts to analyze the ethical dimensions of our betrayal . . . And make no mistake: It was betrayal.

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In an openly partisan book, the former congressman and secretary of the interior attacks those he deems responsible for wars both hot and cold, for misguided foreign policies, and for out-and-out lies and cover-ups. Although the book closes with a vision of America restored to an open democracy, with no secret or elite forces beyond the law and with widened cultural tolerance, those are virtually the only words of cheer in a text otherwise devoted to lamentation. Fully the first third inveighs against the Manhattan Project; Udall takes General Leslie Groves as his villain and asserts that developing the atom bomb was unnecessary, since the military knew all along that Germany could not and would not develop one. But he fails to take into account the fact that the scientists gathered in Los Alamos were not in a race so much as engaged in an intellectual effort to see if it was possible to make a bomb at all - an effort that had a momentum independent of military considerations. Udall is more convincing when he takes to task the government's denial of the role played by fallout from atmospheric tests or exposure to radiation in causing death and injury to human and animal life. Here he cites substantive evidence to expose the callous, immoral behavior of lawyers and judges who denied fault and even attributed lung cancer deaths among uranium mine workers to cigarettes (the miners didn't smoke). Finally, Udall reviews the Cold War and the success of the military-industrial complex in exploiting the myths of bomb and missile gaps. Chief villains this time around are Edward Teller, Joseph Stalin, and, most recently, Ronald Reagan. Clearly Udall is on safe ground here with lots of slow-moving targets. Unfortunately, having vented so much spleen on the bad guys, he has little space left for a positive message. (Kirkus Reviews)

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