I had never heard of Hilbert Schenck until I stumbled across "A Rose For Armageddon" in a get-rid-of-it bin. Why didn't anybody TELL me? The setting is quite standard, the world dying in dystopian collapse as a handful of scientists race the clock to find a way to keep civilization from complete collapse. Schenck takes this standard plot and develops a unique twist wherein the salvation of the world is dependent on the endurance of love, the vagaries of time, and a small island off the Massachussetts coast. Schenk writes with an almost poetic cast to his language and a sure touch with literary devices.

In the 1950s, the US government studied the feasibility of building nuclear powered bomber aircraft, before deciding that the (substantial) drawbacks outweighted the (small) benefits. The author of this book worked on one such study, and imagines what might have happened if such aircraft had been built, to wait almost forgotten until a peculiar set of circumstances brought them into the air.

If you are interested in the technology of nuclear powered aeroplanes - big, dangerous behemoths that they are - then this book, which carefully covers the pros and cons, is worth a look. If not, don't bother. The aircraft itself was the only thing that held my interest; the plot and characters were too contrived and unlikely for my tastes.