This is a hybrid work of literature that combines the history of atomic tests in the Nevada desert in 1953 with fictional vignettes that explore the impact of the tests on the people who participated in them and on civilian 'downwinders'. The stories bring to life a turbulent era when Cold War fears, patriotism, scientific ambition, and popular excitement often collided with the welfare of ordinary citizens and the environment.|A hybrid work of literature that combines the actual history of atomic tests in the Nevada desert in 1953 with fictional vignettes that explore the impact of the tests on the people who participated in them and on civilian "downwinders”. Told from a variety of perspectives, the stories bring to life a turbulent era when Cold War fears, patriotism, scientific ambition, and popular excitement often collided with the welfare of ordinary citizens and the environment.

Ann Ronald is Foundation Professor of English Emerita at the University of Nevada, Reno. She is the author of numerous books and essays, including Reader of the Purple Sage: Essays on Western Writers and Environmental Literature (University of Nevada Press).