Raven Rock: The Story of the U.S. Government's Secret Plan to Save Itself--While the Rest of Us Die

(Paperback)

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Now a 6-part mini-series called Why the Rest of Us Die airing on VICE TV!

The shocking truth about the governments secret plans to survive a catastrophic attack on US soileven if the rest of us dieis a frightening eye-opener (Kirkus Reviews) that spans the dawn of the nuclear age to today, and "contains everything one could possibly want to know" (The Wall Street Journal).

Every day in Washington, DC, the blue-and-gold first Helicopter Squadron, codenamed MUSSEL, flies over the Potomac River. As obvious as the Presidential motorcade, most people assume the squadron is a travel perk for VIPs. Theyre only half right: while the helicopters do provide transport, the unit exists to evacuate high-ranking officials in the event of a terrorist or nuclear attack on the capital. In the event of an attack, select officials would be whisked by helicopters to a ring of secret bunkers around Washington, even as ordinary citizens were left to fend for themselves.

In exploring the incredible lengths (and depths) that successive administrations have gone to in planning for the aftermath of a nuclear assault, Graff deftly weaves a tale of secrecy and paranoia (The New York Times Book Review) with details "that read like they've been ripped from the pages of a pulp spy novel" (Vice). For more than sixty years, the US government has been developing secret Doomsday strategies to protect itself, and the multibillion-dollar Continuity of Government (COG) program takes numerous formsfrom its potential to evacuate the Liberty Bell from Philadelphia to the plans to launch nuclear missiles from a Boeing-747 jet flying high over Nebraska. Garrett M. Graff sheds light on the inner workings of the 650-acre compound, called Raven Rock, just miles from Camp David, as well as dozens of other bunkers the government built for its top leaders during the Cold War, from the White House lawn to Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado to Palm Beach, Florida, and the secret plans that would have kicked in after a Cold War nuclear attack to round up foreigners and dissidents and nationalize industries. Equal parts a presidential, military, and cultural history, Raven Rock tracks the evolution of the government plan and the threats of global war from the dawn of the nuclear era through the War on Terror.

Reviews

Comically macabre . . . A thorough investigation of Washingtons longstanding efforts to maintain order in the face of catastrophe. In exploring the incredible lengths (and depths) that successive administrations have gone to in planning for the aftermath of a nuclear assault, Graff deftly weaves a tale of secrecy and paranoia. . . . Raven Rock is at heart a history of the Cold War and an exploration of its lasting effects on American politics. Graffs portrait of that era is more Dr. Strangelove than James Bond. New York Times Book Review
An encyclopedic chronicle of how the American government, for more than sixty years, has prepared for nuclear attack, most notably with bunkers underground and inside mountains to shelter government officials and other personnelmen and women who could retaliate against the enemy with nuclear weapons and begin to rebuild society.Raven Rockcontains everything one could possibly want to know about these seemingly still-continuing measures to confront Armageddon.The Wall Street Journal
In a new book exploring United States officials detailed doomsday plans during the Cold War, writer and historian Garrett Graff presents a look at how nuclear disaster preparation shaped the modern world. . . . Through his research, Graff reveals how ineffective plans for nuclear disaster actually are when put into action. The problem with org charts and instructions Humans. Time magazine
There are details in Raven Rock that read like theyve been ripped from the pages of a pulp spy novel. The book, written by national security expert Garrett M. Graff, takes us inside the bunkers cut into granite mountainsides and dug under an elite country club. He brings us deep beneath the White House on 9/11 and into the cockpit of an airplane that doesnt officially exist. As you make your way through Raven Rock, its easy to forget that all this elaborate high-tech doomsday infrastructure is actually real. . . .Raven Rock, which should have been a Cold War history, now feels especially timely, hitting bookstores right as a President Donald Trump and North Koreas Kim Jong-uns on-again, off-again relationship pushes us ever closer to nuclear holocaust. Vice
A chilling portrait of how the government planned to continue to function during and after a nuclear holocaust is brilliantly told in this new valuable addition to Cold War literature that goes beyond policy and delves into logistical plans. Graff mines classified and unclassified material to create this highly informative work. Library Journal (starred review)
Raven Rock is gripping from page one. Brilliantly sourced and reported with exquisite detail, Garrett Graffs new book is terrifying, outrageous, and illuminating. Annie Jacobsen, author of Area 51 and Phenomena
You may think you have some idea of how the United States prepared for nuclear war, but you will be shocked, appalled, amazed, fascinated, darkly amused, and just plain gob-smacked by what Garrett Graff has dug up. Deeply researched and lucidly written, Raven Rock is a haunting, compelling journey into the pastwith disturbing meaning for the future. Evan Thomas, author of Ikes Bluff and Being Nixon
In this spellbinding narrative, Graff reveals the top secret plans the government has for its own survival and asks the reader to consider a nightmarish scenario. Crammed with new revelationsfrom the locations of secret bunkers hidden in the nations small towns and dense woods to the ever-changing presidential evacuation planGraff carefully considers what would happen if the unthinkable occurred. I could not put it down. Kate Andersen Brower, author of The Residence and First Women
Garrett Graff has given us a colorful and frightening account of the American governments plans for doomsday, and the secret bunkers where official could go to save themselves. These early plans still have their counterparts today, and they reveal a lot about how warfighting doctrine evolved. Read it and be fascinatedand a little scared. Walter Isaacson, author of Steve Jobs and Einstein
Equal parts thriller, sober history, and tragic comedy, Garrett Graffs Raven Rock is an indispensable volume for anyone seeking to understand how the Cold War and the specter of nuclear annihilation shaped the world. Graff is a meticulous researcher and truly gifted storyteller. Readers will find themselves mesmerized by his careful and fast-paced examination of our governments top-secret plans to survive a nuclear attack while the rest of us are turned to ash. Del Quentin Wilber, author of Rawhide Down: The Near Assassination of Ronald Reagan
A detailed exploration of the United States doomsday prepping during the Cold War . . . Graff, a former editor of Washingtonian and Politico magazines, covers every technicality of the construction of underground bunkers and secret command posts, every war game and exercise, every debate over presidential succession planning and continuity of government, every accident that left us verging on nuclear war. . . . But if there is anything that Raven Rock proves with grim certitude, it is that we have little idea how events would have unfolded in a superpower nuclear conflict, and that technological limits, human emotion and enemy tactics can render the most painstaking and complex arrangements irrelevant, obsolete, or simply obscene. Carlos Lozada, The Washington Post

Author Bio

Garrett M. Graff,a distinguished journalist and bestselling historian, has spent more than a dozen years covering politics, technology, and national security. Today, he serves as the director of cyber initiatives for The Aspen Institute and is a contributor toWired, CNN, andPolitico. Hes written for publications fromEsquiretoRolling StonetoTheNew York Times, and edited two of Washingtons most prestigious magazines, Washingtonian andPolitico. Graff is the author of multiple books, includingThe Threat Matrix, the national bestsellerRaven Rock,and theNew York TimesbestsellerThe Only Plane in the Sky.