Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: Rising Tide: The Untold Story of the Russian Submarines That Fought the Cold War by Gary E. Weir, Walter J. Boyne ISBN: 0-465-09112-1 Publisher: Basic Books Pub. Date: 14 October, 2003 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $26.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.2 (5 reviews)
Rating: 2
Summary: Good, but unorganized and lacking.
Comment: Rising Tide is a fairly decent book about the activites of the Soviets during the Cold War, sort of a "Blind Man's Bluff" from the other side. The author undoubtedly had a significantly more difficult time researching this subject, due in part of continuted secrecy of the Red Navy, the overall breakdown of the Soviet/Russian navy, and the sources which he used (which were primarily oral histories from those Soviet Sailors involved.) In spite of these limitations, the book does provide a fairly interesting insight as to how the Soviet submariners viewed the cold war.
However, there are several shortcomings that stand out. First, the organization of the book, at times is appaling. in the first few chapters of the book, the authors often try to make the book more interesting by telling some historical anecdote that distracts from the overall theme of the chapter. For example, the retelling the story of the accident on K-19 falls in the "Uncertain Nuclear Begginning" but probably would have been better off in "Death in Depts" chapter. Furthermore, the author tries to fill in space by providing American and German histories and achievements as comparisons. Unfortunately, many of these histories take way too much time and detract from the Soviet theme of book. Many of these anecdotes easily could have been reorganized and placed into different chapters to give the book a better flow.
Additionally, while the stories from the submariners are interesting, the book offers little of the technical history behind the creation of the submarines and the nuclear reactors. I was left wondering if the Soviets had their own version of a Admiral Rickover besides Gorshkov, or how did the American react to abilities of certain Russian subs (particularly the Alfa, which the author stated could run at 45 knots and dive to almost 3,000 feet) Other than the actual accidents that happened at sea, you get little of the technical problems that went into submarine design and building from the Soviet standpoint.
Finally, one of my disappointments with the book was the lackof information contained within the two appendix. The first appendix contains a commentary on Admiral Gorshkov's history of the Soviet Navy, but never provides a substantial piece of the original text for the reader to get a sense of Gorshkov's views. The author blasts Gorshkov's revisionist history of how the US NAvy took down the Japanese in WWII, but we never get Gorshkov's own words to make a independant analysis. Providing at least some of the orignal Gorshkov text would have been appropriate. The second appendix provides a comparison of Soviet and American subs thoroughout the cold war. While the information and brief synopsis of each sub is interesting, the list is no where near complete. (The author talks at length about the Alfa sub, yet provides no technical information in the appendix.)
Rating: 3
Summary: Disappointing
Comment: This book seems to try to cover all aspects of the submarine cold war, without a lot of detail on any particular subject. I found the coverage of the Cuban crisis particularly interesting, but somehow felt as though I had to read between the lines, which was true with all the other subjects covered.
All in all, an intersting book, but not in the league of Blind Man's Bluff.
Rating: 2
Summary: Wet blanket effect
Comment: Unlike many of the recent books about cold war submarines, this one isn't a gripping read. Books like "Blind mans bluff", "October Fury", "The Silent War", "Dark Waters", etc. have pretty much all been excellent. This one never seems to get exciting. Much of the book is devoted to non-Soviet topics (e.g.: a long introduction of the history of submarines and the German U-Boats), or non-Submarine topics (e.g. the very long appendix one which is a "cliffs notes" style commentary on Admiral Gorshkovs view of world Naval history and Russias place in it.)
Much of the book features stories already detailed in other books, so if you've read some or all of the books I listed above you've already covered a lot of the book.
I was particularly disappointed that the book failed to get into any sort of techinal detail. I saw a TV show with interviews of Soviet sub commanders who talked at length about the problems with the nuclear reactors etc. I was hoping for details about that sort of thing -- e.g. the twin hulls of the typhoon subs, or the methods used to manufacture the alfa's titanium hull, etc. This book pretty much avoided technical details beyond simple explanations like 'engine trouble'.
It's not a _bad_ book, it's just not a _great_ book. A lot of the recent books in the genre have been really good and this one disappointed.
The biggest problem is that just as something might start to get exciting the story ends and switches to a different story. The "Wet Blanket Effect". Instead of a book that is hard to put down, it turned into a "must read to get my $26 worth out of it".
 |
Title: Dark Waters: An Insider's Account of the NR-1, the Cold War's Undercover Nuclear Sub by Lee Vyborny, Don Davis ISBN: 0451207777 Publisher: New American Library Pub. Date: 07 January, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
 |
Title: Rig Ship for Ultra Quiet by Andrew Karam ISBN: 0957870973 Publisher: Sid Harta Publishers Pub. Date: 01 May, 2002 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
 |
Title: Cold War Submarines: The Design and Construction of U.S. and Soviet Submarines by Norman Polmar, Kenneth J. Moore ISBN: 1574885944 Publisher: Brasseys, Inc. Pub. Date: December, 2003 List Price(USD): $60.00 |
 |
Title: Crazy Ivan: A True Story of Submarine Espionage by W. Craig Reed, William Reed ISBN: 0595265065 Publisher: Writers Club Press Pub. Date: March, 2003 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
 |
Title: A Time to Die : The Untold Story of the Kursk Tragedy by Robert Moore ISBN: 0609610007 Publisher: Crown Pub. Date: 14 January, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
