In this admirably lucid and well-considered study, Mr. Brodie, a senior staff member of the RAND Corporation, discusses the enormous difficulties of devising strategies appropriate to the fantastic development in weaponry. His central theme is the requirements for effective and plausible deterrence and their bearing on such doctrines as massive retaliation, limited war, nuclear or otherwise, and the form of defense. Quite critical of a number of aspects of recent American policy, the book's general purpose is certainly constructive.