Daniel Ellsberg was once a nuclear war planner and presidential advisor (as the title suggests). In The Doomsday Machine, published in 2017, Ellsberg provides an in-depth look at nuclear armaments in the world and how the U.S. uses it. Ellsberg reveals that he found files that showed President Dwight D. Eisenhower enabled a few top military officials use of the so-called "nuclear football" without presidential authorization (a policy which Ellsberg argues is still in place today). He also reveals that he made copies of top secret nuclear planning documents with the intention of leaking it to the public. However, he lost the documents in the landfill as a result of a tropical storm. The book is undoubtedly important for civics-minded people and those interested in nuclear weapons and potential nuclear war.
Users on Goodreads thought very highly of the book, giving it a rating of 4.24 out of 5 stars. Users on Amazon gave the book a similarly solid rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars. The New York Times loved the book, writing: "Especially for young readers, by making earlier generations’ failures clear, “The Doomsday Machine” challenges them to rise to a grand and urgent opportunity." Overall, the book was a tremendous critical success but only a moderate financial success.
