Torva pre-empts Jacobsen's Nuclear War

Torva has acquired Pulitzer Prize finalist Annie Jacobsen’s Nuclear War: A Scenario in a pre-empt. 

Editorial director Alex Christofi acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Jillian Fata at Dutton for simultaneous publication in March 2024. The book has now seen deals in 13 territories. 

“There is only one scenario other than an asteroid strike that could end the world as we know it in a matter of hours: nuclear war” the synopsis says. “And it could start in as little as 26 minutes and 40 seconds from now.” 

It continues: “Until now, no one outside official circles has known exactly how a nuclear exchange would take place. Based on hundreds of declassified files and dozens of new interviews with military and civilian experts who have built the weapons, been privy to the response plans, and taken responsibility for crucial decisions, this is the only full account of the protocols governing nuclear war.” 

Jacobsen is an investigative journalist and the bestselling author of seven other books, including The Pentagon’s Brain (Little, Brown & Company), a 2016 Pulitzer Prize finalist for history. She has also produced and written for Clancy’s “Jack Ryan” TV series for Amazon Studios. 

Christofi said: “From the huge global success of ‘Oppenheimer’ to the real-life threats to use nuclear weapons on modern battlefields, we are beginning to understand how we have been sleepwalking towards disaster. This book is the wake-up call we desperately need. From the first page, I couldn’t look away – I had to finish reading, and when I did finish I couldn’t sleep. Nuclear War is at once a compulsive non-fiction thriller and a powerful argument that we must rid ourselves of these world-ending weapons for ever.” 

Jacobsen said: “I’m thrilled to be working with Alex and Torva to bring this book to UK readers. Conventional war between two countries is horrific, we see it happening around the world. But nuclear war is something else entirely: once begun it’s all but impossible to game out a scenario in which nuclear war doesn’t drag the whole world into the firestorm. I wrote Nuclear War: A Scenario to start the vital conversation about our global future.”