Book excerpt: "The anxiety caused by the thought of nuclear war causes some people to avoid the topic altogether, some to despair, and others to place unwarranted confidence in scientific or governmental control. However, the vivid characters and realistic settings of fiction can bring home the impact of a nuclear war in a way that makes the topic difficult to avoid and allows readers to confront their fears and phobias. This bibliography study is the only compliation of its kind to deal exclusively with nuclear war in fiction. The first five chapters provide a historical survey of the development of the nuclear war theme and a study of the causes and aftermath of nuclear war as treated in literature. In addition, Brians considers the significant failure of some works to confront the subject and the success of others as educational tools. With a clear focus on the subject of war, this work does not deal with such related topics as nuclear accidents, reactor disasters, or near-war situations. The bulk of the book is given over to the detailed, annotated bibliography which consists of over 800 entries with associated checklists. Intended to provide scholars, librarians, and general readers with ready access to a great variety of information about his body of writing, the bibliography lists both hardcover and paper editions of books and the reprinting of each short story and corrects several errors in other standard reference works. In his critical analysis and through the annotations in the bibliography, Brians attempts to improve our understanding of cultural attitudes toward the dangers posed by the ever-present reality of nuclear weaponry"--Jacket.