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The Atom Besieged

1981 book by Dorothy Nelkin and Michael Pollak

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJan 29, 2026
Entity authorityQ7714829 ↗
Source-derived summary

The Atom Besieged: Extraparliamentary Dissent in France and Germany is a 1981 book by Dorothy Nelkin and Michael Pollak. This book examines the opposition to nuclear power in France and West Germany in the 1970s, which is assessed as being broadly based and widespread. The authors argue that the basic fear which accounted for the vehemence of the opposition is that nuclear power fundamentally alters the makeup of society.

Editorial summary

“The Atom Besieged” enters the record as 1981 book by Dorothy Nelkin and Michael Pollak. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Atom, Besieged and book can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA productive route into publication, performance and collection histories when the underlying object or edition remains clearly identified. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1981—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1981-01-01. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Atom, Besieged and book.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“The Atom Besieged” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Atom, Besieged and book provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jan 29, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7714829. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1981.

Critical limits

Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “The Atom Besieged”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow The Atom Besieged primary sources, The Atom Besieged archive and Atom research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “The Atom Besieged”?
  2. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
  3. Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “The Atom Besieged” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.