Astronaut Gus Grissom called it a "Big Beast." For General Curtis LeMay, it was the Strategic Air Command's "Ultimate Weapon." It was both feared and admired by the Soviet Union, while in NATO Europe it would come to be regarded as the symbol of American strength and resolve. It enabled NASA to capture the lead in the space race, held the Western Alliance together during some of its most difficult periods, and was praised by the Pentagon as a system that created a degree of deterrence far beyond what was expected. The Titan II, conceived as the second-generation ICBM that would close the...