Rust

The Longest War

By: Jonathan Waldman

Narrated by: Christopher Lane

A thrilling drama of man versus nature, detailing the fierce, ongoing fight against the mightiest and unlikeliest enemy: rust.

It has been called "the great destroyer" and "the evil". The Pentagon refers to it as "the pervasive menace". It destroys cars, fells bridges, sinks ships, sparks house fires, and nearly brought down the Statue of Liberty. Rust costs America more than $400 billion per year--more than all other natural disasters combined.

In Rust journalist Jonathan Waldman travels from Key West, Florida, to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, to meet the colorful and often reclusive people concerned with corrosion. He sneaks into an abandoned steelworks with a brave artist and nearly gets kicked out of Can School. Across the Arctic he follows a massive high-tech robot, hunting for rust in the Alaska pipeline. On a Florida film set, he meets the Defense Department's rust ambassador, who reveals that the navy's number-one foe isn't a foreign country but oxidation itself. At Home Depot's mothership in Atlanta, he hunts unsuccessfully for rust products with the store's rust products buyer--and then tracks down some snake-oil salesmen whose potions are not for sale at The Rust Store. Along the way Waldman encounters flying pigs, Trekkies, decapitations, exploding Coke cans, rust boogers, and nerdy superheroes.

The result is a fresh and often funny account of an overlooked engineering endeavor that is as compelling as it is grand, illuminating a hidden phenomenon that shapes the modern world. Rust affects everything from the design of our currency to the composition of our tap water, and it will determine the legacy we leave on this planet. This exploration of corrosion and the incredible lengths we go to fight it is narrative nonfiction at its very best--a fascinating and important subject delivered with energy and wit.

©2015 Jonathan Waldman (P)2014 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved. Recorded by arrangement with Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Easy Listen, Interesting and Holds your attention

Any additional comments?

Author did a great job exploring how rust affect everyone of us. I look forward to his next book.

really interesting topic, well told...

Walfman goes deep into a few critical case studies. I might have enjoyed a few more, in particular I would have liked to hear more about early/pre-industrial and another about hyper-modern chip manufacture. Overall, well written with loads of interesting characters... and a critically important topic/concept

I was hoping for more science

Mostly an account of people whose livelihood is based on the management of corrosion problems and an historical account of stainless steel. Since I have a job that leans me in this direction as well I was hoping for some insight. But aside from a new fear of beverage cans I can't say I learned too much. I'm still waiting to hear a good rust joke.

Human Stories in Corrosion

I couldn't get away from this story. It was just the right amount technical and informative and the right amount human drama. A timely story for a society now beginning to understand the value of preserving rather than replacing.

I'll probably listen to this a few more times. Fantastic narration and fantastic writing.

Metallurgy

I’m a metallurgist and was looking for an interesting book about metals. This one delivered. The stories were surprisingly enjoyable albeit a bit long sometimes. Also could have done without the f-bombs.