Nuclear War in Science Fiction, 1945-59

With few exceptions, early SF depictions of nuclear war were neither scientifically accurate nor literarily sophisticated. Expressing wild optimism, minimizing the probable consequences of a nuclear war, or exaggerating them to produce traditional apocalyptic effects were all common. Despite the fact that SF prided itself on its scientific orientation and its prediction of atomic warfare, it was principally mainstream writers who produced the best fiction on the subject during the 1940s and ’50s. The success of several books and movies during the late ’50s and early ’60s, combined with the growing sophistication of literary technique within SF, changed this situation markedly. (PB)

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