Widely considered the founder of "futurology," political scientist and economist Kahn (1922-83) analyzes nuclear war from the perspective of the rationale and rhetoric, the stages and shapes of conflict both before and after the nukes come out. His account is still cogent, though the US-USSR scenario he had in mind is gone. Among his topics are the rungs of the escalation ladder, traditional and intense crises, the nuclear threshold, military and civilian central wars, defects of the escalation-ladder metaphor, and de-escalation and its aftermath. The 1965 edition was published by Praeger in New York. Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)