Pushbutton War by Joseph Paul Martino
"Pushbutton War" by Joseph P. Martino is a science fiction novella written in the early 1960s. The book explores the complexities and emotional conflicts faced by a fighter pilot, Major Harry Lightfoot, as he navigates the mechanized warfare of the future, particularly involving rocket interceptors designed to neutralize intercontinental ballistic missiles. The narrative reflects themes of technology versus human intuition in combat situations, as well as the inner thoughts and motivations of
a soldier grappling with the realities of modern warfare. In the story, Major Lightfoot finds himself stationed in a remote Arctic location, where he is part of a defense system designed to intercept and destroy incoming missiles. The structure of the military and the politics of war are examined through Lightfoot's interactions with his colleagues and his reflections on his Apache heritage. As a crisis unfolds with the launch of hostile missiles, Lightfoot must rely on both the advanced technology of his spacecraft and his own intuition to identify and destroy the enemy warhead while wrestling with the implications of his role in a seemingly automated and detached mode of warfare. The climax involves a tense battle against time as he successfully intercepts the threat, ultimately showcasing the delicate balance between human skill and reliance on mechanization in the context of war. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
Read or download for free
| How to read | Url | Size | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Read now! | https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/24122.html.images | 70 kB | |||
| EPUB3 (E-readers incl. Send-to-Kindle) | https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/24122.epub3.images | 151 kB | |||
| EPUB (older E-readers) | https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/24122.epub.images | 149 kB | |||
| EPUB (no images, older E-readers) | https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/24122.epub.noimages | 93 kB | |||
| Kindle | https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/24122.kf8.images | 232 kB | |||
| older Kindles | https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/24122.kindle.images | 224 kB | |||
| Plain Text UTF-8 | https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/24122.txt.utf-8 | 62 kB | |||
| Download HTML (zip) | https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/24122/pg24122-h.zip | 143 kB | |||
| There may be more files related to this item. | |||||
Similar Books
About this eBook
| Author | Martino, Joseph Paul, 1931- |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Schoenherr, John, 1935-2010 |
| Title | Pushbutton War |
| Series Title | Produced from Astounding Science Fiction August 1960. |
| Note | Reading ease score: 74.1 (7th grade). Fairly easy to read. |
| Credits |
Produced by Greg Weeks, Bruce Albrecht, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net |
| Language | English |
| LoC Class | PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature |
| Subject | Science fiction |
| Subject | Short stories |
| Subject | War stories |
| Category | Text |
| EBook-No. | 24122 |
| Release Date | Jan 2, 2008 |
| Most Recently Updated | Jan 3, 2021 |
| Copyright Status | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 138 downloads in the last 30 days. |
| Project Gutenberg eBooks are always free! | |
