The first book to tell the story of daytoday life on the nuclear home front from the host of 1 podcast Atomic HoboA BBC RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK and A GUARDIAN BEST PAPERBACK FOR APRIL 2024 So entertaining THE TIMESCracking SUNDAY TELEGRAPHThe atomic bombs of 1945 changed everything. For the next forty years the mushroom cloud loomed large in public imaginations and fear of the blasts apocalyptic power coloured every aspect of British daily life.From makeshift shelters and herbal remedies to sirens that offered fourminute escapes ordinary people were taught how to save themselves in the face of a catastrophe that was not survivable. Meanwhile bunkers were readied for those officials and experts who would ensure life continued after Armageddon.At once chilling and darkly funny this is the story of how Britain braced for nuclear conflict and of how so long as nuclear weapons exist the threat of total annihilation will always be with us.Thrilling and profoundly important JULIET NICOLSONSimultaneously horrifying weirdly nostalgic and darkly hilarious MARK HADDONImpossible to believe just as hard to put down DAN SNOW