Even before they fully understood the devastation wrought at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Americans began to imagine what nuclear attacks on their own cities would be like. Images of great American cities in ruins moved individual citizens and officials at all levels of government to action. Convinced that preparations made in advance would reduce loss of life during an attack and speed recovery afterward, they made elaborate plans designed to mitigate the effects of nuclear war. The yellow civil defense signs posted in every major building and school were a constant reminder to Americans that they were engaged in a new kind of war—the Cold War (1946– 1991). The fear and threat of nuclear devastation—although

Bomb shelter with living and sleeping area for four, ca. 1960. With the increased fear of a nuclear attack on the United States during the Cold War, many families...