AMERICAN GROUND ZERO: The Secret Nuclear War...

AMERICAN GROUND ZERO: The Secret Nuclear War by Carole Gallagher (Random House: $30; 361 pp.). Gallagher interviewed dozens of men and women to document the U.S. government’s callous exposure of citizens in Nevada and Utah to radiation from above-ground nuclear tests during 1950s. Soldiers were sent into “hot” areas shortly after detonation to retrieve equipment. Civilians in nearby towns came to watch the blasts--and the strange, pinkish clouds of dust and ash that killed sheep by the thousand. Since then, local residents have suffered from abnormally high incidences of cancer, autoimmune diseases, reproductive problems, hormonal imbalances, nerve damage and birth defects. They bitterly recall how their government used them as expendable guinea pigs, then lied about it. This deeply disturbing book only begins to explore one of the most shameful episodes of the Cold War: Many of the men recall seeing cages near ground zero that held chained animals and humans.