The inside story of the world’s most successful military alliance, from the wrecked Europe of 1945 to Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Born in the aftermath of World War II, NATO was the brainchild of Allied leaders and officials determined to never again allow a catastrophic global war. Deterring Armageddon takes the reader from the backroom deals that led to its creation to the brink of Cold War nuclear exchange, and through the killing fields of the Balkans and Afghanistan.

It also goes behind the scenes of the restive modern era, perhaps the most dangerous since the first years of the alliance. It’s a tale of tension, danger, rivalry, conflict, big personalities and high-stakes military posturing – as well as bureaucrats, spies and ordinary civilians, officials and military personnel. From the Korean War to the pandemic, the Berlin and Cuba crises to the unravelling of Kabul, it tells how the alliance has shaped and been shaped by history – and looks ahead to what might happen next.