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Landry Brewer

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Cold War Oklahoma Kindle Edition

by Landry Brewer (Author), Bob Burke (Foreword) Format: Kindle Edition

4.6 18 ratings

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Oklahoma might seem like an unexpected place for Cold War tensions to boil over, but the state played a key role in a conflict that threatened global annihilation. Altus Air Force Base served as a hub for twelve intercontinental ballistic missile launch sites; in 1964, a missile housed at the Frederick site exploded, although the nuclear warhead remained unaffected. Ordinary citizens lived under the shadow of nuclear war as well. A former OU faculty member accused of committing espionage for the Soviet Union fled the country, while a SWOSU professor dug his own fallout shelter in Weatherfordâ€"by hand. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, an emergency siren malfunction sent terrified Elk City parents scurrying to local schools to pick up their children. Landry Brewer presents a fascinating cross-section of the era, from top-level strategy to the details of daily life.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This work constitutes a masterful overview of ordinary Oklahomans in no ordinary time. Citizens were learning to live with the threat of a nuclear holocaust. Perhaps the most significant theme is what the author references on page 121, that is, the deep ties that emerged between the citizens of the Sooner state and what President Eisenhower famously called the military industrial complex. It is a delight to read from beginning to end, because it features several lighthearted vignettes about the strange and wonderful adaptations that shaped the Cold War era. After surveying the origins of the arms race, the author delves carefully into the Atlas F missile program and describes the 11 sites in the southwestern portion of the state. While turning the pages, I could almost hear the Thunderbolt sirens blare in Elk City during the Cuban missile crisis of October 1962! I could almost see ordinary people in Weatherford digging fallout shelters with their bare hands! The folksy examples of civil defense preparedness are revealing, to say the least, as the passages really bring the global clash to a local stage and insinuate the profound impact on home and hearth. The descriptions of military installations are accurate. The careers of Carl Albert and Thomas Stafford are compelling. The investigation into the espionage case of Maurice Halperin builds on what we now know, judiciously pointing to key facts and fresh insights from Venona decryptions. What distinguishes most of the chapters is the clarity, wit, and succinctness with which an exciting story is told."

Brad Lookingbill, author of The American Military: A Narrative History (Wiley, 2013).

"""Cold War Oklahoma is a valuable contribution to Oklahoma history and contains careful research and important information that should be in the hands of every Oklahoman, every American. In these uncertain political times, this work could not have come at a better historical moment. Brewer encapsulates this well as he offers us this directive: 'Our task is to remember the events, the sacrifices, the stakes, the failures, the successes and the lessons learned so that we don't repeat them'""

Brett D. Burkhart, Ph.D., Oklahoma State University"

About the Author

Landry Brewer is Bernhardt Assistant Professor of History for Southwestern Oklahoma State University and teaches at the Sayre campus. Although he has been published multiple times in the journal of the Oklahoma Historical Society, several times in western Oklahoma newspapers and has written two one-act plays that have been performed, this is Brewer's first book. He and his wife, Erin, have five children and live in Elk City.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07Q8F6WSD
Publisher ‏ : ‎ The History Press (April 29, 2019)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 29, 2019
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 3574 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 192 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #1,625,322 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #93 in 1945 - Present History of the U.S.
- #269 in Nuclear Weapons & Warfare History (Kindle Store)
- #724 in History of Southwestern U.S.

Customer Reviews:
4.6 18 ratings

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T B

A Must-Read for All Americans

Reviewed in the United States on May 9, 2019

Verified Purchase

Cold War Oklahoma presents a look at the impact of the Cold War on the heartland of America and how Oklahomans contributed to the safety of our country. In a time when nuclear weapons are on full display around the world, the author takes us inside missile sites built in Oklahoma to combat the threat of a nuclear showdown with the Soviet Union. He adds a personal touch with his interviews of those who were part of the effort to keep America safe. His father and grandfather worked for the company that built the missile sites. The writing flows well and is an easy read.

2 people found this helpful

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Stan B.

Interesting

Reviewed in the United States on June 22, 2019

Good

Reviewed in the United States on June 9, 2019

👍

Reviewed in the United States on June 1, 2019

Very insightful and interesting. If you’re an Oklahoman: read this book. The author, in detail, captures the history of the era and how it affected Western Oklahoma masterfully. I highly recommend this book!

One person found this helpful

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redeyes117

Not as good as the description makes it seem.

Reviewed in the United States on August 3, 2020

I had high hopes for this book but it did not deliver. The first couple chapters were good and the chapter about the spy was interesting but this is not a good example of academic writing, which is what I was expecting from a college history professor. If you are looking for a comprehensive book on the role Oklahoma played during the Cold War this is not it. There are several chapters where the author describes his personal experiences of researching and learning about the topic but I don't think it was necessary to recount that in historical writing. For example, he spent an entire chapter talking about the people he met and thanked them for their help. That type of information should be in the acknowledgements not in the middle of the book. I also did not like the use of "I" throughout the book. It was frustrating to read and is not a professional way to write. While he used "I" a lot, I did not learn about his interpretation of historical material, which ultimately makes up historical books. It was more of regurgitating information he had learned into a narrative format. As a historian I would not suggest this book to anyone seriously interested in the topic but a casual reader may enjoy it more than I did.

2 people found this helpful

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Mike Miller

Over 30 pages of content missing.

Reviewed in the United States on May 31, 2019

I am enjoying the first part of the book, until I noticed that the page number goes from 32 then skips to 65. Obviously the sentence ending on page 32 doesn’t go with the beginning of the next page. It is not a very big book so over 30 pages of missing content. Hopefully the publisher will see this and correct the issue, or maybe this information had to be taken out given the subject matter. I would rate higher as I have enjoyed it so far, I will correct my rating when an explanation is had or I receive a complete book. I did not buy this book on Amazon, but at a bookstore.

One person found this helpful

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Lawrence

Pages Missing

Reviewed in the United States on November 1, 2019

As Mike Miller noted in his review, my copy that was received as a gift is missing pages 33 - 64. This is a first. My email to the publisher basically requested that I return it for a refund to the place of purchase. Gee thanks Arcadia Publishing. I guess I'll handle this on my own...

Reviewed in the United States on October 9, 2019

Verified Purchase

Book shipped quick and was in perfect condition. An interesting read!

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