“DETERRING ARMAGEDDON: A Biography of NATO” by Peter Apps was published in the UK by Wildfire Publishing on February 2, 2024, coming out in the US at the end of June.
It tells the story of the world’s most successful military alliance, from the wrecked Europe of 1945 to Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and beyond, receiving strong reviews. As of May 2024, the Kindle is the bestselling international affairs title on Amazon UK.
Hardback and audiobook editions also available.
As well as the launch itself in Stanford’s, Covent Garden, Peter has so far appeared at literary festivals in Oxford, Derby, Faversham and Ross-on-Wye, and will be appearing at the Hay literary festival on May 28.
Peter says: “I’m delighted by the reception DETERRING ARMAGEDDON has received so far. The events of 2024 so far have offered repeated reminders of why the history of the alliance is so relevant today. It’s been a real pleasure to work with Wildfire on bringing this book together, as well as my agent Antony at Greene and Knowlton in getting it all started.”
As they signed NATO into being after World War II, its founders fervently believed that only if the West’s democracies banded permanently together could they avoid a catastrophic global atomic conflict. DETERRING ARMAGEDDON takes the reader from backroom deals that led to NATO’s creation, through the Cold War, the Balkans and Afghanistan to the current confrontation with the Kremlin following the invasion of Ukraine.
It is a tale of tension, danger, rivalry, conflict, big personalities and high-stakes military and diplomatic posturing – as well as espionage, politics and protest. From the Korean War to the pandemic, the Berlin and Cuba crises to the chaotic evacuation from Kabul, DETERRING ARMAGEDDON tells how the alliance has shaped and been shaped by history – and looks ahead to what might be the most dangerous era it has ever faced.
The Independent newspaper described DETERRING ARMAGEDDON as “hugely impressive”, while Country Life magazine called it “an astonishingly fine history”. Anna-Joy Rickard of the Great British Foreign Policy Podcast called it “compelling and informative – a must-read for anyone serious about understanding both the history and future of Western military strategy.”
Peter will be in Washington DC from mid-June researching his second book and promoting DETERRING ARMAGEDDON. He is available for events, podcast recordings and more.
Financial Times: “An impressive chronicle, rich in anecdote, of NATO’s history from its founding to the present day… Several themes recur in Apps’ well-paced narrative of the backroom deals, political posturing, big personalities and recurring crises that have tested NATO ever since. Amongst the most prominent is the fragility of the project, and how unclear it has often been who is in charge.”
Lord George Robertson, former NATO Secretary General, for Politics Home: “This is a big book, but it has a big story to tell… Peter Apps has produced a well-researched, highly readable account of the military, strategic – and indeed personal – twists and turns of NATO 75-year history… The story is fascinating and enthralling and, given the state of the world before it existed, inspiring too.”
British Army Review: “”DETERRING ARMAGEDDON is far from a dry historical record. A Reuters foreign correspondent and specialist Army Reservist, the author combines the detailed research and insight of a historian with the vivid prose of a professional journalist, the access of a high-ranking diplomat and the practicality of a soldier.”
Daily Mail: “A fascinating new book… We should be very grateful to Peter Apps… For writing a thorough history of NATO from birth in 1949 to today.”
The Wavell Room: “DETERRING ARMAGEDDON is history done well… a brilliant biography of an alliance that, for good or bad, shapes the modern security environment… The text is extensive, brilliantly evidenced and fascinating. It draws the themes of history forward offering a modern reader a succinct analysis in a compelling narrative. Apps’s writing style is entertaining and, more critically, engages a reader’s mind in what could otherwise be a dry topic… The text is a one-stop shop for any reader looking to learn about the alliance.
Irish Independent: “Peter Apps has produced a masterful portrait of an organisation often misunderstood but absolutely central to much of contemporary international politics.”
History Today: “A straightforward and breezy history of NATO. A former Reuters correspondent and British Army reservist, Apps has an eye for the dramatic.”
Waterstones: “From the ruins of the Second World War to the invasion of Ukraine, Apps’ masterly history of NATO is an authoritative and engrossing marvel, rich in lively pen portraits and international incident.”
About the Author
Peter Apps is global defence commentator at Reuters, a British Army reservist and executive director of pop-up think tank the Project for Study of the 21st Century (PS21). Peter has reported from across the world as Reuters political risk and global defence correspondent, and was appointed a Reuters columnist in 2016. He undertook reserve military training with both the British and U.S. armies and more recently as a UK specialist army reservist, providing advice, analysis and training and serving two full-time tours of duty during the Covid-19 pandemic and Ukraine war. He is the author of two successful Kindle Singles, Before Ebola (2014) and Churchill in the Trenches (2015).
