I read Rosenbaum's "How the End Begins: The Road to a Nuclear World War III"[1] and it contains a number of pretty sobering details of just how crazy the cold war was, and how not much has truly improved since. The Soviet's perimeter system gets a mention, along with a story of how supposedly it set of a chain of events that very nearly did cause the launch of Soviet nukes, had it not been for a Soviet commander questioning whether the data received by the system was in fact accurate.
As well, no mention of Dr. Strangelove, the cold war, or just nukes in general should go without also mentioning Major Harold Hering[2] who was discharged from the for asking:
> How can I know that an order I receive to launch my missiles came from a sane president?
As well, no mention of Dr. Strangelove, the cold war, or just nukes in general should go without also mentioning Major Harold Hering[2] who was discharged from the for asking:
> How can I know that an order I receive to launch my missiles came from a sane president?
Indeed.
[1]: http://www.amazon.com/How-End-Begins-Nuclear-World/dp/141659... [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Hering