Fallout by Steve Sheinkin
Most people have never heard the name Vasili Arkhipov, but we all should know about him. If it weren't for him, the world would be a very different place, and humans might not even be on it anymore. Or, if any of humanity had survived, it would certainly not be in the current world we exist in. Why? Because in the early 1960s, the Cold War was raging between the United States and the U.S.S.R. and Cuba had just become the hot spot.
After World War II, Europe was just trying to rebuild, but the United States and the U.S.S.R. both emerged as the most powerful countries in the world. The Soviet leaders wanted to make sure the world would sit up and take notice of them, and make sure no one ever invaded them again, like Germany had during World War II. As the world entered the nuclear age of weapons, the knowledge that life on earth could actually be destroyed kept everyone on edge. In the United States, President Kennedy encouraged all Americans to build fallout shelters that would allow them to survive a nuclear holocaust. However, people that had actually lived through a radioactive experience, knew first hand how horrible the effects were, and how helpless humans are in the face of such a disaster. Which is where Vasili Arkhipov comes into play, and how he may have literally saved the world.
Recommended for grades 7 and up.
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