Joseph Cirincione is one of America’s best known weapons experts. His new book, Bomb Scare, begins with the first atomic discoveries of the 1930s and covers the history of their growth all the way to the current crisis with Iran. Cirincione unravels the science, strategy, and politics that have fueled the development of nuclear stockpiles and increased the chance of a nuclear attack. He also explains why many nations choose not to pursue nuclear weapons and pulls from this a corrective to the current failed policies: a balance of force and diplomacy, enforcement, and engagement that yields a steady decrease in these deadly arsenals.

Joseph Cirincione is Senior Fellow and Director for Nuclear Policy at the Center for American Progress in Washington, D.C. He is the author of the new book, Bomb Scare: The History and Future of Nuclear Weapons (Columbia University Press, 2007). Cirincione also teaches at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and served for eight years as director for nonproliferation at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He worked for over nine years on the professional staff of the Armed Services Committee and the Government Operations Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The New York Review of Books says, "Cirincione writes as a seasoned Washington observer...his invaluable new book...ought to be read by everyone as a matter of life and death."

Richard Rhodes, Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Making of the Atomic Bomb, says that Bomb Scare is "Succinct and smart, informed by insight drawn from long experience, Bomb Scare is the best one-volume examination of the history and challenges of the nuclear arms race yet written."

Robert Gallucci, Dean of the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, says Bomb Scare is "a compact, balanced, and wise treatment of an issue that is of critical importance to our security."