Bomboozled: How the U.S. Government Misled Itself and Its People into Believing They Could Survive a Nuclear Attack

Conceived by a misguided government seeking to quiet the fears of an anxious public, the concept of the Family Fallout Shelter was Cold War paranoia at its finest, a massive bit of propaganda by architecture that has no more truth behind it than the absurd notion of duck and cover. Inundated with government-sponsored films, posters, booklets, traveling caravans and exhibitions, the American family bought into the idea, investing millions of dollars in home shelters of every conceivable material and design. ‘Bomboozled: How the U.S. Government Misled Itself and Its People Into Believing They Could Survive a Nuclear Attack’ lays bare the buried truths of America’s family fallout shelter obsession. Author Susan Roy charts the panic-fueled evolution of the shelter from a well-stocked basement pantry to a full-fledged (and often completely decorated) home addition, revealing through extensive archival photography, nuclear-era memorabilia, and previously unpublished media, a government and people in the grip of self-delusion. Fastidiously researched and sharply written, Bomboozled captures the absurdity and uncertainty of a culture that knew no better than to trust its government’s message.