The Trident submarine is one of the most remarkable feats of engineering in human history: a sleek metal tube powered by a nuclear reactor, breathtakingly silent, yet strong enough to resist intense pressure deep under the surface of the ocean. But the human experience inside-as crews spend months crammed together beneath the sea, manning 24 nuclear-tipped missiles, and always listening for the stealthy enemy - is even more remarkable. For Big Red, veteran Time correspondent Douglas C. Waller was granted unprecedented access by the Navy to take readers inside this silent, secretive world. Here is the gripping story of a three-month cruise on the U.S.S. Nebraska: the rituals of the closed society of submariners, the top-secret plans for a nuclear holocaust, the elaborate fail-safe mechanisms, and the extraordinary security measures designed to protect the world's deadliest weapons - even from the men who handle them. Even in the post-Cold War world, America's defences ultimately rest on these men and their vessel; Waller's account brings both vividly to life.