Mount Kologet, Goldsboro, Palomares, Thule… Four nuclear accidents, four stains on the history of the Cold War. These events lay undiscovered for years, hidden behind the veil of official secrecy. Now published, the files show how the relentless standoff between the two superpowers nearly spiralled out of control and led us to the brink of obliteration. 

Historians, geopolitical specialists and atomic experts reveal the devastating war we avoided by a whisker during a period that is not that far in the past. Returning to this subject casts fresh light on the perils to which the public was exposed at a time of extreme tension.