'Government’s Secret Plan to Save Itself – While the Rest of Us Die' subject of Book Rap Monday, May 22

The National Press Club hosts Garrett M. Graff for a Book Rap to discuss his new book, "Raven Rock: The Story of the U.S. Government’s Secret Plan to Save Itself – While the Rest of Us Die," on Monday, May 22 at 6:30 p.m. in the Club’s Conference Rooms.

Tickets are $5 for Press Club members and $10 for the general public. Tickets and books are available here.

For four years, Graff dug through presidential libraries and examined recently declassified military and government documents for what he thought would be a fun history of how the United States government planned for Armageddon during the Cold War. The result is "Raven Rock," a book release with impeccable timing as the world nervously watches North Korea flex its nuclear muscles and Russia openly prepare for war. And if that weren’t enough to concern us, according to Graff, the government isn’t as prepared as it should be even after decades of planning.

The book gets its name from Raven Rock, the Pennsylvania bunker prepared for top military officials and used only once beginning Sept. 11, 2001. It is a history of how the U.S. government would survive an attack –- who and what would be saved and protected, and who and what would not.

Graff is a magazine journalist and historian. He served as editor of the Washingtonian and PoliticoMagazine, and has written stories for various publications including Wired and The New York Times. He is the author of "The Threat Matrix: The FBI War in the Age of Global Terror" and "The First Campaign: Globalization, the Web, and the Race for the White House."

The event features a presentation by the author, a Q&A session with the audience, and a signing session. Because the event is a fundraiser for the NPC’s National Journalism Institute, no outside books are allowed.