"Edward Teller was one of the giants of the nuclear age. Born in 1908, he spent the best part of the Twentieth Century at the forefront of national and international defence strategies, becoming one of its most controversial and powerful scientific figures. Seen by some as a champion of freedom and democracy and by others as an enemy of humanity, few have had as profound an impact on the shape of the post-war world." "Never afraid to stand up and be counted, Teller began in the political mainstream but was later assailed as the mastermind of a ruinous arms race - the original Dr. Strangelove who had drawn the world deeper into the Cold War, his effigy burnt by students who branded him a war criminal.".