An Object Lesson
All this makes life worth living - competition
Dorling Kindersley are producing a phenomenal book of wonders that will feature a vast array of astonishing items that add something to the world we live in. ...We're giving you the opportunity to be a part of this incredible project. We want you to tell us about your object and why its story or what it represents is so extraordinary and makes life worth living.
To enter you need to email us at AllThisBook@uk.dk.com with an image of your object and a maximum of 100 words on what makes it so worthy of a place in this fantastic new book. The competition closes at midnight, Wednesday 28th January. T&Cs Apply
Here's my entry:
A telephone handset. Wonderful as they are for keeping us in touch with our family, friends and timeshare salesmen that is not why I have chosen it. It is no ordinary handset. It is an American one, it came from the command bunker of Greenham Common. It is through this handset that the coded orders would have passed that would have unleashed nuclear war. A few words listened to on it would have meant the end of civilisation as we knew it. We still face threats to our security but the black cloud of the Cold War hotting up which hung over a generation is now history. And that this telephone handset is no longer ready for use is something that makes life a lot better.
Comments
Absolutely brilliant! I couldn't think of a better example.
Posted by: Alan the Brit | January 22, 2009 9:02 AM
Eerie.
Posted by: Emmett | January 22, 2009 7:40 PM
I used to live by the airbase. Great airshows until the cruise missiles took over. I recall quite a few long rides around the common on my way back from drunken teenage parties. Older still some of us used to court girls on the common. Never worried about missiles. Always glad they were there.
Posted by: bill | January 22, 2009 8:37 PM
I think you've been cut off.
Posted by: Blognor Regis | January 22, 2009 10:14 PM