Blowing up bombs and planning nuclear tombs in Nevada has left a legacy to the residents, a mixture of loss of innocence and discovery of their own invisibility.

Bombast: Spinning Atoms in the Desert is a crucial linchpin in Atomic Revival studies. Michon Mackedon recounts Nevada’s relationship with the nuclear industry and a host of players including the Atomic Energy Commission, the Department of Energy, scientists, military men, and journalists. With “an awareness born of deceit” shared by other Nevadans, Mackedon considers the manipulated language and imagery doled out by the atomic industry to make the unsafe appear safe and the unthinkable, thinkable. This second book published by Black Rock Institute Press is an environmentally charged survey of nuclear culture in the “Silver State.” Augmented with “Atomic Pop” images of the nuclear era, this book is an ironic, dead-serious, no-holds barred post-mortem that lights up Nevada’s nuclear industry.

NABE Summer 2011 Pinnacle Book Achievement Award winner, a Best Book in the category Non-Fiction.

Won the Gold award from ForeWord Reviews Book of the Year Awards in the Regional category.

National Indie Excellence Book Award Winner in the Regional Non-Fiction category.

Winner of the IPPY Silver medal from the 2011 Independent Publisher Book Awards in the category of Best Regional Non-Fiction.