After the atomic bombings in 1945, American artists began questioning what it meant to create art in a world where humanity could destroy itself. Some returned to the neglected tradition of the sculptural monument as a way to grapple with the anxieties of nuclear annihilation, and in this illustrated analysis Robert Slifkin finds links between sculpture in the 1940s and 50s and the minimalism and land art of the 60s and 70s. He looks at the industrial welded steel sculptures of David Smith, the austere structures of Donald Judd, and the desolate yet picturesque earthworks of Robert Smithson, while also exploring the contributions of marginalized artists like Raoul Hague, Peter Grippe, and Robert Mallary.