A Fiery Peace in a Cold War: Bernard Schriever and the Ultimate Weapon (Repost)

"A Fiery Peace in a Cold War" is probably the best history of the development of the ICBM program that's not classified. It is also an ok, but not spectacular, look at the lives of the people most specifically, Bernard Schriever who developed the program. It's probably unfair to compare this to Sheehan's best work, "A Bright Shining Lie," but the narrative bogs down in detail at times and the characters aren't as clear cut.

Herman Wouk once said his goal with creating Victor "Pug" Henry in the Winds of War/War series was to reflect a class of people he saw in the military that outsiders don't recognize - the high performers that are near-misses, never quite getting the top job or the public recognition, but who under the surface are often the difference between life and death for an awful lot of people. The part of the book that deals with General Bernard Schriever pretty much nails him as an Air Force version of that fictional character. Schriever's early choice to turn down a chance to be a pro golfer and help his family out of poverty eventually ended up with him being responsible for the development of the Minuteman, and that changed history even if nobody had heard of him outside the Pentagon until this book.

The failing here, though, is that it's not a biography. It's more a history of the program and those involved in it, and as such there is just too much detail for anything but an academic reader well versed in the subject. The mini biographies of others in the program are well done, but when there are quite literally tens of them it becomes very hard to keep a coherent narrative going. Add on the plethora of weapons systems details Sheehan would have had a heck of a career as a procurement officer and the book simply bogs down. A reader of "Lie" really gets the coherent takeaway that US policy in Southeast Asia was well intentioned but a disaster from almost when John Paul Vann stepped off the plane. In "Peace," it's hard to come up with a direct takeaway from this one since Sheehan doesn't really end up with much of an argument one way or the other for judging the whole effort, let alone leaving all but a few readers with enough energy to finish the book.

Still, it's a heck of an overview of a major aspect of the Cold War, which would give it 5 stars normally, but the need for editing and lack of focus takes it to 4. Still recommended for those with a major interest in the subject.