Atomic Friends: How America Deals with Nuclear-Armed Allies

This is the best type of nonfiction book. It taught me a lot but was also fun to read. The first chapter explains the book's contributions to the field. But, the historical studies are just fascinating to read. As an added bonus, many of the book's lessons were surprising.

A lot of attention is focused on what it means if adversaries get nuclear weapons, such as Iran, but not enough attention is paid to our friends. Keck’s work shines a light on why we should be at least as concerned about whether Allied states get the nuke and explains why. Bottom line, friends don’t let friends go nuclear.

Zachary Keck provides an important contribution to the nuclear weapons field with this book. The book is clear, easy to read, and has several interesting case studies. I recommend this book for anyone is interested in nuclear weapons and in US foreign policy more generally. The implications he discusses are very relevant to our world today.