On Escalation Metaphors and Scenarios Author:Herman Kahn One of the most widely discussed and influential books of recent years, now fully revised and updated for this Pelican edition. Herman Kahn probes the dynamics of escalation and demonstrates how the intensification of conflict can be depicted by means of a definite escalation ladder, ascent of which brings opponents closer to all-out war. At e... more »ach rung of the ladder, before the climb proceeds, decisions must be made on the basis of numerous choices - some clear and obvious, others obscure. But the options are always there,. Thermonuclear annihilation, says Mr. Kahn, is unlikely to come through accident; but nations may elect to climb he ladder to extinction. The basic material for this book was developed in briefings delivered by Mr. Kahn to military and civilian experts and revised on the light of his findings on a recent trip to Vietnam. In On Escalation, he states the facts squarely. He asks the reader to face unemotionally the terrors of a world fully capable of suicide and to consider carefully the alternatives to such a path.« less