@BillRM,
We never had that, I'm a bit younger than you though. I was a baby during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
I was very aware of the threat of nuclear devastation though.
A friend recommended it but I was quite disappointed, it was like On The Beach, the end was coming, we just had to wait it out.
The only bit I liked was when the writer describes people using oratory and a move back to such skills, that was interesting. It did look like it may have gone in a different direction, but no, it followed the same worn out route of so many others.