A Techno-Thriller, Arc Light is set towards the end of the 1990s and depicts a warp between the United States of America and the Soviet Union.
The novel opens with the two major protagonists enjoying friendly relations, but with the USSR engaged in a war with China which is going badly. They inform America that in order to break through the Chinese lines they are going to use a small number of nuclear weapons. The American President warns the Chinese, who respond by launching nuclear weapons at Russia.
The situation deteriorates due to confusion and political upheval in Russia, leading to a small (approximately 1,000 warheads) nuclear exchange between Russia and America. A conventional war follows in which America invades Russia to depose the government. The remainder of the novel charts the course of this war, which is conducted despite the ongoing threat that the Russians may launch the remainder of their nuclear arsenal in an all out strike.
An arc lamp is a device that produces light by the sparking (or arcing, from voltaic arc or electric arc) of a high current between two carbon rod electrodes.
The arcs were enclosed in a small tube to slow the carbon consumption (increasing the life span to around 100 hours).
The arc lamps were soon superseded by the more efficient and longer-lasting filament lamps in most roles, remaining in only certain niche markets such as cinema projection and search lights.
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