This book is the edited proceedings of a conference organised by the Medical Campaign Against Nuclear Weapons (M.C.A.N.W.) in April 1989. It explores from a variety of angles the reasons (or unreason) for the nuclear arms race. In particular, it questions the motives of the powerful, the so-called objectivity and rationality of the decision processes and reveals the battles for military supremacy, not only between nations but also among the branches of the armed services, air, sea and land.

There are articles by Lynn Barnett, Anton Obholzer and Hanna Segal on group processes and defences against anxiety. Dr. Obholzer warns us against complacency; in his article “The comfort of groups”, he looks at groups as a defensive system and suggests that it is exactly when we are feeling we are doing our bit as far as nuclear or green issues are concerned that we are in danger of becoming part of a somewhat ritualised establishment process: that is of polarising issues and letting “someone