Book Description
Submarines had a vital, if often unheralded, role in the superpower navies during the Cold War. Their crews carried out intelligence-collection operations, sought out and stood ready to destroy opposing submarines, and, from the early 1960s, threatened missile attacks on their adversary’s homeland, providing in many respects the most survivable nuclear deterrent of the Cold War. For both East and West, the modern submarine originated in German U-boat designs obtained at the end of World War II. Although enjoying a similar technology base, by the 1990s the superpowers had created submarine fleets of radically different designs and capabilities. Written in collaboration with the former Soviet submarine design bureaus, Norman Polmar and K. J. Moore authoritatively demonstrate in this landmark study how differing submarine missions, antisubmarine priorities, levels of technical competence, and approaches to submarine design organizations and management caused the divergence.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent book.......2007-08-14
I sought a book with a serious overview of the topic of Cold War submarines, and not a book about one or another aspect of the topic. I ended up with a book that contains both an excellent overview as well as serious discussion of specific submarines, strategies, technologies and the men behind the scenes.
The story is well placed within the historical context of the political, military and economical events and processes of the Cold War. The text is well written and well structured.
Especially fascinating is the look behind the scenes of Soviet submarine design, construction and operations - those were among the best-kept secrets of the Soviet Union.
Besides dealing with "main stream" submarines, there are several interesting chapters about different experimental projects; rescue submarines and several fantasy projects, like freight vessels and aircraft carrying submarines.
Although the story is focused on the Cold War period, there is a detailed discussion of WWII technology that highly influenced Cold War designs, as well as descriptions of post Cold War vessels and fleets.
The book is well illustrated with photographs and line drawings.
Great book.......2007-03-16
Not as many actual pix of subs as most books but it is very well written and also dabbles into the politics and design that went on with each new design of submarine. Nice charts and missile specs and things like that. Goes into greater detail of the US boats more than Soviet.
Absolutely The Best.......2007-02-13
I was somewhat skeptical of this book when I saw nothing but 5 star reviews from purchasers of the title. However, having read it, this is THE Cold War submarine reference. It contains insights not only into the technologies deployed, but the rational (or in some cases the Irrational) that led to the development of the mysterious technological marvels we could only speculate on during the cold war. The authors clearly show both American and Soviet perspectives on the cold war submarine development. I found the information regarding the CONFORM design on 1967 to be of particular interest. Rickover's insistence on developing the 688 class killed CONFORM. Yet CONFORM was 40 years ahead of anything available at that time. It is interesting that the 688's were far more fragile than one might imagine. Yet Rickover insisted on having his way. Where would we be had the CONFORM design gone through?? This book is absolutely the best material that I have read to date on cold war submarines.
A very balanced overview.......2006-12-03
I knew about a Polmar from reading references in some papers, so I finally decided to give a try. I wasn't disappointed. There were lots of technical details giving an overview. Better yet, it is a balanced account - by no means are Americans portrayed as all powerful.
If there were two things it can be improved on - well, one would be the placement of the endnotes. It is a matter of taste, but considering how many there were and how interesting they were, it might have been more convenient to have put them at the bottom of the main text as footnotes for each page.
The second is that I would have killed for a chapter or two on "other than the equipment". Subs are not just their designers, their admirals and the technicals - it is also the men, their organization and their training. Polmar briefly goes over the differences, but it could have been given a full chapter or at least an Appendix if extra efficiency measures were applied to the pre-Cold War history stuff.
Now, I'm going to buy another Polmar book that would hopefully fill up the gap. Wish me luck.
Covers Much More than the Title indicates.......2006-03-10
I thoroughly agree with Mr. Dougherty's enthusiastic reader review. The authors have put together a virtual encyclopedia on modern sub design and construction with real insight into what the subs were intended to do, and how some politicians and bureaucrats sabotaged the projects. I found particularly illuminating how each side of the Soviet-US conflict used the records and existing prototypes of Nazi Germany's U-Boat experiments. Baker's line drawings and diagrams are quite helpful in visualizing the boats, as are the ample photos of the real subs and scale models. This is a book to which I will return again and again whenever there is some news item about
undersea naval competition.
Book Description
This definitive survey examines the impact of nuclear weaponry on national security issues. Written by an experienced author and founder of the Peace and Common Security Institute in Berkeley, California, this text describes how current nuclear dilemmas have developed out of past choices and events. The final chapter of this chronologically organized text covers events that took place from 1985-1991, making the material relevant to the post-Cold War era.
Book Description
The "Blind Man's Bluff" of aerial espionage.
Unknown to the public and cloaked in the utmost secrecy, the United States flew missions against the Communist bloc almost continuously during the Cold War in a desperate effort to collect intelligence and find targets for all-out nuclear war. The only hint of the relentless, clandestine operations came when one of the planes was shot down. Many of the air force and navy flyers were killed on the top secret missions. But now, for the first time, award-winning historian William E. Burrows shows that others were captured by the Russians, Chinese, and North Koreans, and were tortured, imprisoned, and killed, while their loved ones grieved and their government looked the other way. In an effort to improve relations with Russia, Washington is still looking the other way, though it pretends otherwise.
Burrows has interviewed scores of men who flew these "black" missions, as well as the widows and children of those who never returned, all of whom want the full story finally told. He has done so with an eye to this story's immensely human dimension. By Any Means Necessary is not about airplanes, but about the people who've sacrificed their lives in the interests of national security.
Customer Reviews:
For those interested..........2007-03-05
This is a must read. Exceptional coverage of the topic and even adds a bit of humor here and there ("Berlin for lunch bunch"). Within the subject this book is worth the five stars.
The Cold War that cost lives........2005-11-10
At the beginning of this book, it quotes Teller as saying at least the Cold War did not cost any lives. Burrows points out in this book that the Cold War did cost lives. At least 15 planes were shot down, and close to a hundred Air Force and Navy airmen were killed. The U.S. Government hid the fact that many flights were ferreting radar information and bombing sights in case of offensive nuclear war. The Soviets and Chinese did the same thing, even if their propaganda said otherwise. The real losers in this conflict were the families of those airmen who were lost. The government lied to them to cover their activities.
This book was released after the Navy ferret airplane collided with the Chinese jet off Hainen. This incident was also described. However shootdowns of U.S. aircraft took place as far back as 1948. Some of these shootdowns were over international airspace. All participants in this conflict were not innocent. The U.S. needed information and these flights provided them this information. The end of the air duels happened in 1970 when satellites took over the intelligence gathering over sensitive Cold War targets.
This is a nice informative read about a little known conflict in the Cold War. I was surprised about the detail the author put into the air clashes. He also told the human story of the losses on the families. A good read.
FEET TO THE FIRE!.......2005-08-24
I remember reading stories of Americans, mainly servicemen, who disappeared behind the Iron Curtain following World War II. To the everlasting shame of every single President from Truman to the current occupant of the White House, we have never demanded a full accounting of their fates, not even from so-called "Democratic" Russia.
Burrows story is a sad, despairing one, of brave men who flew their reconnaisance aircraft over hostile, yes, enemy airspace without fighter jet protection, and often encountered Soviet, Chinese, and North Korean MiG fighters. He writes of that very first aircrew shot down over the Baltic in April 1950, roughly two months before the Korean War. Harry Truman, revered by so many, did absolutely nothing about it even though US Navy life rafts, filled with machine gun holes, were seen drifting off the Swedish coasts.
When the Korean War broke out, Truman refused to bomb the Chinese Army that massed along the Yalu but continued to send these unarmed planes deep into Chinese and Russian Far East airspace. The pilots who did come back would talk about flying over those eerie mountains and crystal blue lakes of Manchuria and Siberia, always on the lookout for enemy jets, and fearfully knowing that if met, they didn't stand a chance. Even if the planes were close to Japanese airspace that didn't stop the Soviets from blasting them out of the sky. One such flight was blasted out of the sky in 1952, just off the coast of Northern Japan. But instead of U.S. jets scrambling to help the crew, or U.S. Navy ships at full speed trying to rescue them - there were destroyers of the Soviet navy on-hand. Some of the American airmen seen parachuting into the sea were believed to have been picked up by these Russian ships, never to be seen again.
Most of these flights ended with the advent of satellites and the downing of Gary Powers' U-2 in May 1960. But Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon (although he did try to get a full accounting of missing U.S. personnel in Vietnam), Ford, Carter, Reagan, and even Bush and Clinton after the Soviet empire finally collapsed never even bothered to get a full accounting of what happened to these men. Only after former Soviet officers presented the widows, sons and daughters with personal items of men shot down off the Soviet coast did some word of these secret missions and the fate of these men come out - and not for all.
When a "friend" of the United States like Boris Yeltsin can rewarded a savage American traitor and Fascist like the late spy Morris Cohen with the Hero of Russia award, then it is time that we press our elected officials to demand a full accounting - and if any might still be alive a release of these American servicemen who gave their all for this country. Otherwise, what are we doing rescuing their sailors?
Buy it, read it, give a copy to a friend.......2005-02-07
Bottom Line - This is an excellent book. Buy it, read it, give it to a friend.
If you are in the business of Intelligence, you owe it to those who preceded you to hear their story. This book should be required reading for every prospective intelligence officer. It lets you know what the standard is.
If you are an American who values your freedom, you should read this to understand what the price of that freedom is. In these days when people openly talk about and debate the value of the billions spend on intelligence it is even more important to know what the non dollar cost is and what all of those billions buys us.
Most of the players in the decades long game with the Soviets and Chinese were never talked about in the glowing terms of the "Greatest Generation" yet they sacrificed as much if not more than those before them. Their battle was unknown to the outside world and often even to them. Their families were denied any comfort that is gained from explanation and recognition. Because the war was "Cold" few knew or admitted that lives were being lost. Burrows provides long overdue recognition for their sacrifice.
A cannot recomend enought buying this book.
Should Be Taught In All History Courses.......2004-03-26
I find that memories of the Cold War are fast fading, and not even direct experiences of a growing part of our population. This is why it seems now so easy for politicians to "rewrite" history to their own agendas, including phases such as Vietnam specifically and the Cold War generally. Fewer and fewer know how it even came about--how one of our staunchest Allies agains the Third Reich could so quickly become our primary nemesis in the seeming battle for world domination and influence--or as I was taught--hegemony.
Burrows focuses on the brave soldiers who were on the front lines of intelligence gathering. These were the men who "accidentally" flew over Soviet air space, to get a glimpse of weapons systems, troop movements, and the military-industrial complex of the U.S.S.R. This work is well-documented and fascinating. The great human toll of this work is clear with a section before the endnotes, with names of those deceased in this important work.
These silent and shadow missions went on continually, punctuated only by foreign touting of a plane shot down, a flier captured. Such was our fear of "re-education" that the film the Manchurian Candidate could not be shown for decades, fear that our government might be infiltrated by "turned" Americans.
That was not fantasy, however, for there were plenty of "turncoats" to go around, as we now know so well---turncoats purchase with easy money and the desire for conspicuous wealth. HOwever, the silent observers of the aerial intelligence war could not dream of such rewards, only of carrying out their duties in the name of freedom. As such, this book belongs on the bookshelf of anyone who takes the great conflicts of the 20th century seriously, for they are prologue to the murkier conflicts of the 21st. Will these tactics only be frozen in time, abandoned as surely as the Napoleonic tactics of the early 19th century? The short history of the 21st century, thus far, does not provide the answer. However, as is so often said, those who do not learn from history may be condemned to repeat it. To the extent the post-WWII period truly differed from present day, we can and should learn from it. In that effort, this book provides a truly valuable reference of tactics and tenacity.
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Post-Cold War Defense Reform: Lessons Learned in Europe and the United States
Manufacturer: Potomac Books Inc.
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ASIN: 1574885774 |
Book Description
Beginning with the landslide political changes in Europe in the early 1990s, politicians and military planners started to contemplate the possible effects on military postures. Most countries, however, did not enforce plans for post-Cold War reform because they lacked political will and money, their conservative militaries resisted, and they felt no real pressure from any clear and present threat. September 11 was seen in many cases as a loud wake-up call, but nonetheless it did not elicit a clear response. Even in the United States, where calls for defense reform were the strongest, real defense reform seems to be another casualty of the terrorist attacks.
Fortunately, debates have begun about the future of military forces, the "revolution in military affairs," and the plans for NATO and European security and defense cooperation. Whether these initial discussions will lead to real strategic thinking, to threat analysis, and finally to a meaningful strategic review is uncertain. This publication serves as a timely contribution to the debate on determining which lessons have, and have not, been learned while suggesting possible courses for the way ahead.
Book Description
On April 12, 1945, Franklin Roosevelt died and Harry Truman took his place in the White House. Historians have been arguing ever since about the implications of this transition for American foreign policy in general and relations with the Soviet Union in particular. Was there essential continuity in policy or did Truman's arrival in the Oval Office prompt a sharp reversal away from the approach of his illustrious predecessor? This study explores this controversial issue and in the process casts important light on the outbreak of the Cold War. From Roosevelt to Truman investigates Truman's foreign policy background and examines the legacy that FDR bequeathed to him. This work reveals that the real departure in American policy came only after the Truman administration had exhausted the legitimate possibilities of the Rooseveltian approach of collaboration with the Soviet Union.
Customer Reviews:
Worth the Read.......2007-08-09
This book gives a thorough look at the transition and evolution of the Truman administration's foreign policy approach. I found it a surprisingly easy read for a book based on solid research. Though my exposure to other works dealing with this subject is admittedly narrow, I would highly recommend it to anyone seeking a balanced view on this subject.
Book Description
It was in the Third World that the ambitions and fears of the two Cold War superpowers were played out v Korea, Vietnam, Egypt and Syria, Afghanistan. In their bizarre way, these were carefully controlled wars, carefully controlled in the sense that neither great power allowed itself to become directly engaged in a hot war with the other. Equally, neither allowed itself to go for broke in a grand sweep across the Third World in fear of provoking that final confrontation. But this fear of direct confrontation was never as rigidly controlled as one would think. Again and again events veered towards a clash between Eagle and Bear. The authors of this book make real such terrifying possibilities as Korea or the 67 War dragging in both superpowers; they predict the consequences of the United States or the Soviet Union attempting radical strategies in Vietnam or in a divided Germany, either to follow the British success in Malaya or to invade the North; they imagine the invasion of Cuba when the delicate signals failed to find a way out of the Missile Crisis and bring to life a scenario in which the Soviet Union knocks the Great Game off the board by using Afghanistan as base to bring down Pakistan and achieve its warm water port on the Indian Ocean. Cold War Hot vividly brings to life these and many other alternate scenarios, taking the reader behind the scenes at these momentous moments in history. In showing what could have happened, the authors show how precarious the Cold War peace actually was, and how little it would have taken to tip the balance into World War Three.
Customer Reviews:
Nothing about NATO-Warsaw Pact conflict.......2007-08-12
Seeing that a Warsaw Pact invasion of West Germany, leading to all-out battle on the "Central Front", is now firmly in the realm of alternate history, one would have hoped that there would be at least a couple of stories about possible campaigns in Germany. However, the stories in this book deal with things like an alternate Korean War, a clash between U.S. and Soviet naval forces in the Mediterranean during the Yom Kippur War, several stories on alternative outcomes to the Vietnam War, a Sino-Soviet war, and (the last entry in the book) a completely tongue-in-cheek story about a NATO plan to wreck the combat effectiveness of the Red Army. Fun, interesting and overall well-written, but when I think of "Cold War Hot", I really want to read about "the big one" - the clash between NATO and the Warsaw Pact. Really for the hardcore alt-hist fan.
Good, but not one of Greenhill's best.......2006-01-26
Three-and-a-half stars, actually.
I was excited to see yet another great alternate-history collection come out from Greenhill books, and I was especially glad to see that this one dealt with the Cold War rather than yet another about the Second World War. However, despite the fact that the book was good enough to help me get my alternate history fix, there were many problems with the book and it is probably my least favorite of Greenhill's alt-history compilations.
Cold War Hot consists of ten scenarios written as pseudo-historical essays. They run the gamut of the Cold War along linear lines, beginning with the Berlin Airlift, than going through the Korean War, Vietnam, the Six-Day War, the FLQ and a Communist Revolution in Quebec, a Sino-Soviet War, Vietnam again, the Yom Kippur war, a different Afghanistan leading to a different Indo-Pakistani war, and finally a satirical alternative collapse of the Soviet Union.
Many of these scenarios were quite entertaining, a couple of them even helped to highlight issues and details of the Cold War. However, there were a number of problems with the book, and a number of ways it could have been much better. Here they are:
1. A Right-Wing Political Bias.
Now, I'm left-wing myself, but I try my best to be objective; even so, I have to say that Cold War Hot had a right-wing bias. From comments against Vietnam War opponents to a distorted view of possible policies enacted by a second Carter administration, the authors' bias often hindered my enjoyment of their writing. (Oh, and I didn't find Red Lightning to be very funny.)
2. Limited and repetitive scenarios.
Two scenarios deal with Vietnam and two deal with the Middle East. As well, the Berlin Airlift scenario and the two Middle East ones had very little change from historical reality and had very little actually happen.
3. Scenarios left out.
It might sound clichéd, but I would have liked to see one Cuban Missile Crisis scenario. As well, why not something dealing with the Suez Canal and the Hungarian uprising? Or maybe something in the 80s with Nicaragua or El Salvador? Or maybe a conflict that results out of a different ending of the Second World War?
4. The lack of nuclear conflict.
I understand why the authors didn't want every scenario to end in a nuclear war, but why did only one actually involve nuclear conflict? (And that one was the Sino-Soviet war, again showing the authors' bias, as only dirty commies would actually use the bomb.) Again, not every scenario had to have nuclear war, but more definitely should have. As well, it would have been quite interesting to see how nuclear war between the US and the USSR would have been different over the course of Cold War; how would it play out in the 50s as compared to the 60s or 70s, how bad would the devastation have been? All this was left unanswered.
Cold War Hot was readable and enjoyable, but it did not live up to its promise.
Alternate History-Right wing Armchair General Version.......2005-01-21
"What if" history has an inherent interest and it is not surprising that much of it deals with battles. The writers of these alternative essays are all military officers and only one of them is a professional historian. The result is quite deadly: this is not remotely as provocative a book as Niall Ferguson's Virtual History because there is no real discussion of historical events. None of the essays shows much interest in the relevant historical literature. Whether it is the Berlin Blockade, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the various Israeli-Arab conflicts or the Afghan war, the authors show no interest in examining the scholarship on the opposing side's motives. Carolyn Eisenberg, Bruce Cumings, William Stueck, Kathryn Weathersby, Jian Chen, Raymond Garthoff, William Duiker, David Elliott, Robert Buzzanco, Neil Sheehan: none of them make an appearance.
A basic principle of counterfactual history is that except for the basic change posited in the "What if" you only minimally change the events in question. For example, once you have Lee win the Battle of Gettysburg, you can't give the South nuclear weapons. But the authors know too little about history to know what is a minimal change. As a result there is little control over the author's flights of fancy, except their own prejudices. As such, one possible alternative, nuclear war, never appears. The chapters on the Berlin Blockade, The Six-Day war, a Soviet-Sino war, and the Yom Kippur War all ends properly contained. One suspects this relatively happy result is because the authors realized a nuclear war would undermine the anti-Communism and nuclear deterrence they have devoted their lives to supporting. Another author has Jimmy Carter winning re-election and thereby insuring the Soviet victory in Afghanistan, which involves both the Soviet Union manipulating India to attack Pakistan, and Pakistan under its despised military dictator successfully resisting. One would think after September 11th, even American conservatives would realize not to glamorize the Taliban's patrons. Peter Tsouras comes up with a strikingly silly chapter in which a Soviet invasion of Western Europe is stopped and reversed simply by flooding the invaders with good vodka.
More seriously we have two attempts to refight the Vietnam War. In one the war is easily staunched in 1963-64 because the Americans buy out the landlords, get rid of corruption, and get Britain, Canada and Italy to send military help. Now where is the constituency in Vietnam who will both fight the NLF and allow the Americans to do this? Where was the constituency in the American army and pro-war supporters who believed that both corruption was a problem and that land reform was a solution? The second is even sillier: the United States plans an invasion of North Vietnam and it works perfectly! Now since the United States couldn't crush the NLF and the North Vietnamese Army after more than a decade in South Vietnam, if they couldn't crush them in the 1970 invasion of Cambodia, if their South Vietnamese proxies had to run away with their tails between their legs in Laos in 1971 and if the Americans couldn't rout the North Vietnamese invasion in 1972, why should we think they could easily beat the North Vietnamese in their own country in a matter of weeks? If the idea was possible you would think someone would have seriously suggested it at the time. Indeed, the whole article is strategically flawed. The whole invasion depends on the idea that China will stay neutral, except the right-wing braggarts who might have pushed the idea in 1970 hated China, and could therefore not provide a reason why China would not intervene. But then everything goes well. The Americans have excellent intelligence in the North before the invasion (yeah, right); notwithstanding the major preparations for an invasion the Americans gain complete tactical and strategic surprise, and they decapitate the North Vietnamese leadership with a series of brilliant raids. Why not just have a fairy wave a magic wand and make the North Vietnamese go away?
However it is the one paper by a professional historian, Sean Maloney, that is the worst in the book. Desperate to make his native Canada a player in the imaginary Cold war, he has a major crisis over Quebec in 1968. Everything about this scenario is silly. De Gaulle is assassinated (by whom?), a left-wing government takes his place (how? The Fifth French Republic has distinct procedures when a president dies), who're actually Soviet agents (who? When?). The Germans agree to reunification on pro-Soviet terms and NATO collapse (why?). One might think this is more important than anything in Canada, but Maloney has the FLQ launch a major insurrection and the Canadian government powerless to stop it. Now to understand what's wrong with this, you have to realize that the FLQ were a small group of malcontents who exploded a few bombs, and in 1970 murdered a Quebec cabinet minister and kidnapped a British diplomat. Once they did they were promptly crushed. The FLQ had minimal popular support and Quebec society was not such that it would ever gain the limited sympathy that the IRA and ETA did. The idea that it could ever launch a major insurrection that would not only paralyze the Canadian government but also require American intervention is a fantasy. It is like thinking that the Weathermen and the Back Panthers could overthrow the American government. Moreover, once after having concocted this idiotic fantasy, Maloney criticizes the Canadian government for not being able to defeat his fevered dream. This book says little about alternative history. It does provide some light on recent events though. The authors show little capacity for self-criticism, blame civilians for making things worse, and have no respect for their enemies. No wonder Iraq is such a mess.
Creative, but falls short.......2004-03-11
A good collection of stories, running the gamut from the Berlin Airlift to a humorous story about a Warsaw Pact invasion of Europe. There aren't any apocalyptic nuclear war scenarios, and the Vietnam scenarios (of which there are only two) both reek of what the authors think should have been done, not what was really plausable. I would have enjoyed more in-depth scenarios, and a few that covered a simple Warsaw Pact invasion. All in all, what scenarios were covered were done rather simply, and skipped around, not covering Europe or nuclear warfare.
Not the best.......2004-02-04
The unrealistic stories present in this book make for a fogettable read.
The scenerio in which India and the Soviets unite against tiny muslim Pakistan does not make sense. Why would an Indian government, conscious of its Hindu population, ally itself with the godless "reds?" Perhaps an uneasy alliance between Pakistan and its former provine Bangledesh against an anti-muslim India would be a more plausible scenerio.
The border skirmishes between China and the U.S.S.R. took place on a regular basis, and would not have escalated because of the nuclear detterent. A realistic approach might have involved full scale diplomatic debates concerning the buffer Mongolian state, located between the People's Republic and the Soviet Union. When each nation's security is threatened, then the concept of the U.S.S.R. launching an offensive invasion of the Chinese mainland would actually be believable.
In the Vietnamese storyline, the idea of the U.S./ARVN overruning the north is well thought out, but again, not believable. The North Vietnamese would not have just laid down arms to better armed South Vietnam units, they would have, like the plain clothed guerilla VCs in the south, fought dirty and hardcore, implementing tunnels and fighting using hit and run tactics.
When violence boils over from the secessionist movement in Quebec, the U.S. sends planes and advisors to aid the national Canadian authorites who seek out "terrorists" and "separatists." It is very doubtful that Ottawa would need the assistance of the U.S. to put down an armed revolt in Quebec, let alone want it. Recent positions taken by Canada in international issues has showed Canada's willingness to be recognized as more than America's little northern brother.
Better novels about alternate history exist, but for the people who love even the inplausible situations will enjoy this book.
Book Description
Listen to a short interview with Jeffrey A. Engel
Host: Chris Gondek | Producer: Heron & Crane
In a gripping story of international power and deception, Jeffrey Engel reveals the "special relationship" between the United States and Great Britain in a new and far more competitive light. As allies, they fought communism. As rivals, they locked horns over which would lead the Cold War fight. In the quest for sovereignty and hegemony, one important key was airpower, which created jobs, forged ties with the developing world, and, perhaps most importantly in a nuclear world, ensured military superiority.
Only the United States and Britain were capable of supplying the post-war world's ravenous appetite for aircraft. The Americans hoped to use this dominance as a bludgeon not only against the Soviets and Chinese, but also against any ally that deviated from Washington's rigid brand of anticommunism. Eager to repair an economy shattered by war and never as committed to unflinching anticommunism as their American allies, the British hoped to sell planes even beyond the Iron Curtain, reaping profits, improving East-West relations, and garnering the strength to withstand American hegemony.
Engel traces the bitter fights between these intimate allies from Europe to Latin America to Asia as each sought control over the sale of aircraft and technology throughout the world. The Anglo-American competition for aviation supremacy affected the global balance of power and the fates of developing nations such as India, Pakistan, and China. But without aviation, Engel argues, Britain would never have had the strength to function as a brake upon American power, the way trusted allies should.
Book Description
Other books exist that warn of the dangers of empire and war. However, few, if any, of these books do so from a scholarly, informed economic standpoint. In Depression, War, and Cold War , Robert Higgs, a highly regarded economic historian, makes pointed, fresh economic arguments against war, showing links between government policies and the economy in a clear, accessible way. He boldly questions, for instance, the widely accepted idea that World War II was the chief reason the Depression-era economy recovered. The book as a whole covers American economic history from the Great Depression through the Cold War. Part I centers on the Depression and World War II. It addresses the impact of government policies on the private sector, the effects of wartime procurement policies on the economy, and the economic consequences of the transition to a peacetime economy after the victorious end of the war. Part II focuses on the Cold War, particularly on the links between Congress and defense procurement, the level of profits made by defense contractors, and the role of public opinion andnt ideological rhetoric in the maintenance of defense expenditures over time. This new book extends and refines ideas of the earlier book with new interpretations, evidence, and statistical analysis. This book will reach a similar audience of students, researchers, and educated lay people in political economy and economic history in particular, and in the social sciences in general.
Customer Reviews:
Who knew economics could be so fun!.......2007-01-11
I know you're not supposed to give away a books plot in a review, however, the Depression ended, we won World War II, and then the Cold War began and lasted for nearly fifty years, though not necessarily in that order.
When I began reading Depression, War, And Cold War, a collection of essays and articles spanning almost two decades, my first thought about Robert Higgs was that he has an ax to grind.
In the introduction he elaborates the Military Industrial Congressional Complex (MICC) and then goes on to assert, "...if the Soviet government did the devil's work, so, on many occasions, did the U.S. government and its allies. Not the least of the self-damage was the transformation of the executive branch of the federal government into a secretive, highly discretionary, often ill-advised and badly informed organization that was far too dedicated to attempting the futile task of running the whole world." He then proposes to examine the evidence and the circumstances surrounding the events in the book's title, something Mr. Higgs admits very rarely happens without bias in the study of economic history.
The text, for the most part, focuses on an analysis of the "war is good for the economy" myth. This is where Robert Higgs, as an economist, shines. He provides the framework to see events surrounding World War II as an end to "regime uncertainty" and not as the actual catalyst for any kind of boom. He then goes on to dissect the troubled relationship between government and industry that prolonged the Depression, and analyzes the subsequent policy and personnel changes that encouraged everyone to enter once again into discourse. Changes, incidentally, that still affect every American today almost seventy years later.
There are two chapters on Congress that, while highly entertaining, are mostly anecdotal but do make you want to query your Congressman about being a "pork hawk". Here he admirably shows a lot of tact by using "misfeasance" instead of a harsher term. Next come private sector profits and the gaps in shareholder returns between companies involved in defense contracts and those not. The last chapter tells how the public can sway the system and also be swayed by the system.
Judging from the statement, "We are talking about history, not physics; unique events may have unique causes," Mr. Higgs seemed to have two targets for his ax. The first target is regular people in whom he wishes to instill the notion that history repeats itself unless they fully understand its implications. The second are the Keynesian economists whom he thinks just plain get it wrong.
After finishing the book though I've decided it wasn't an ax being ground and that, if anything, it's probably lenses so we can all see where we've been and in turn where we're heading.
Book Description
Free to patrol the skies and surface of the high seas under international law, U.S. and Soviet naval and air forces made daily direct contact during the Cold War. Often confrontational and occasionally violent, air-to-air contacts alone killed over one hundred Soviet and American aviators during the Truman and Eisenhower years. Diplomacy to curtail the hostility produced mixed results. In the 1960s the Soviet Navy challenged worldwide U.S. naval dominance, and collisions and charges of harassment became common. In 1972 the two nations signed an Incidents at Sea Agreement (INCSEA) that established navy-to-navy channels to resolve issues. This agreement is the focus of David Winkler's study. He argues that in contrast to conventional diplomatic channels, Soviet and American naval officers, sharing bonds inherent in seamen, could put ideology aside and speak frankly. Working together, they limited incidents that could have had unfortunate consequences. Drawing on previously unavailable State Department files and recently declassified papers held at the Naval Historical Center as well as discussions with former top naval officials, diplomats, and others, Winkler details U.S.-Soviet incidents at sea, analyzes the changes in U.S. policy and naval strategy, and evaluates the effects of various events on U.S.-Soviet maritime relations, helping readers to fully appreciate the agreement's significance in establishing a direct military-to-military contact and as a venue to discuss other issues during the 1970s and 1980s.
Customer Reviews:
An Interesting Read.......2001-04-22
I found this book quite fascinating, as it touches on a facet of the Cold War very rarely mentioned in the mainstream of history -- the practices of limited (though still dangerous) engagement between the U.S. and Soviet high-seas fleets. Furthermore, it details not only the incidents, but the effect that seemingly remote occurences had on both the Soviet and U.S. leadership. That effect, ultimately led to the establishment of a number of agreements, also detailed in this volume. Interestingly enough, Winkler makes it quite apparent that many of the Soviet diplomats and military officials were quite mindful of the impending failure of the Soviet Union, even in the early 1970s. I would definitely reccomend it if you are interested in Naval or Cold War history, or if for some reason, you want a detailed history of collisions at sea, as found in one of the appendixes.
Book Description
The Cold War was the war that never happened. Nonetheless, it spurred the most significant buildup of military contingency this country has ever known: from the bunkers of Greenbrier, West Virginia, to the "proving grounds" of Nevada, where entire cities were built only to be vaporized. The Cold War was waged on a territory that knew no boundaries but left few traces. In this fascinating--and at turns frightening and comical--travelogue to the hidden battlefields of the Cold War, Tom Vanderbilt travels the Interstate (itself a product of the Cold War) to uncover the sites of Cold War architecture and reflect on their lasting heritage. In the process, Vanderbilt shows us what the Cold War landscape looked like, how architecture tried to adapt to the threat of mass destruction, how cities coped with the knowledge that they were nuclear targets, and finally what remains of the Cold War theater today, both its visible and invisible legacies. Ultimately, Vanderbilt gives us a deep look into our cultural soul, the dreams and fears that drove us for the last half of the 20th century.
Customer Reviews:
The fading ruins among us.......2007-06-28
Author Tom Vanderbilt takes us around the country examining the evidences left by the Cold War, a war which did and yet didn't happen. From missile silos being destroyed to ones being turned into homes, from "proving grounds" to backyard bomb shelters, Mr. Vanderbilt uncovers sites which often sit right in front of us and simply blend into our landscape in spite of their obviously militaristic features. But he goes beyond the aging and disappearing signs indicating "fallout shelters" and discusses how the threat of nuclear annihilation shaped our cities and our thinking. Cities became the targets, and today's suburbs, often denigrated under the label of "urban sprawl," were a reaction to and a defense against the calamities which befell the densely packed cities of Germany and Japan which proved so fatal during the firebombing raids of WWII. Attempts to fortify buildings, strategies for minimizing casualties, underground cities, interstate highways, early warning systems, NORAD, massive retaliation... it all walks a fine line between critical and absurd, interesting and boring.
I can't help imagining the puzzlement the younger generation must feel at seeing some of these things. Growing up in the 70s and 80s I only saw the end of the Cold War, but the Reagan years witnessed an increase in tensions with the USSR (do younger people even know who that was or what it stood for?) and I recall some events like the local opposition which prevented the deployment of MX missiles in the Utah desert in the late 70s. It also reminded me of movies I saw as a teenager like "War Games" and "The Day After," or music by Sting ("Russians") or Frankie Goes To Hollywood ("Two Tribes") which reflected the contradictions of a peace maintained by the ability of two nations to assure "mutual destruction" of each other within minutes. And yet that seemed to be the reality of the world we lived in, and I thought this book captured that sense very well. Mr. Vanderbilt ends with some sobering observations on how September 11th relates to this struggle to protect ourselves without falling into a "bunker mentality." Overall, an interesting and reflective look at a fading time, a look at the darker side of the optimism and technological advances of the 50s and 60s, with lots of great pictures (all in stark b&w) although maybe not quite 4 stars.
A Haunting Tour of America's Cold War Ghost Towns.......2006-04-06
Tom Vanderbilt's Survival City is a sociological survey of a forty year war that never happened. Rummaging through the modern ruins of Cold War America, Vanderbilt's haunting travelogue takes the reader into old and derelict Altas II and Minuteman missile silos, past deserted radar stations and along the broken desert landscapes of weapons proving grounds. The Cold War was an invisible conflict that most of us somehow learned to live with. But, the Cold War had a visceral reality for those technicians that watched the radar screens for the "hand of god," the massive missile attack expected from the Soviets, which would appear like a skeletal hand reaching down from the North Pole towards North America. Mid-twentieth century architects weren't speculating if a nuclear attack would occur...but when. Fallout shelters and bunkers were integrated into some public and corporate buildings, but for the most part, urban and military planners had written off cities as indefensible. This, in part, explains the growth of suburbia -- the last defense against urban decapitation attacks.
Vanderbilt's writing is crisp with the right combination of horror and moral shock at appropriate times.
Survival City charts the emergence of the city as a war machine, its subsequent elevation to a military target in World War II, and the overall effect weapons of mass-destruction have had on our urban conscience. This book is a great read that even includes a postscript written on Sep. 17, 2001 that eerily reinforces the message of the book.
I found this book to be a fairly short read, with lots of pictures of the various places the author is visiting along the way.
Good stuff.
Final grade: B+
A Fantastic Storyteller Explores the Cold War.......2005-12-21
Tom Vanderbilt's book is not only factual, but provides a riveting adventure through the remnants of America's Cold War. His writing is compelling. What he reveals is astonishing, and the pictures placed through out the book give the story crucial details that portray the reality of the Cold War in a way that words simply cannot articulate. The book draws you in and changes your perspective on and knowledge of history as well as the residue that coats America today.
Heady stuff, very smartly written.......2004-05-16
I'm usually a rather tough grader, but this is the best book I've read in quite some time. Vanderbilt takes us on a lively and diverse tour of cold war America's remaining architectural artifacts (the interstate highway system, bomb shelters, missile silos, misc. military installations - some still in use, nuclear waste sites, etc.) and weaves an analysis of same into an interesting and often surprising commentary on the historical period and the society which gave rise to these structures. For me, the novel perspective of looking at things from an architectural standpoint worked quite well at making the history and those times come alive.
The style is part documentary, part story-telling, part travelogue, part cultural anthropology, and part essay on topics in architecture (generally) which I previously would not have thought about, or thought I had any reason to think about. The approach was successful enough that I found myself frequently being simply and skillfully led to surprising and profound insights, which were a delight. I came away from the book thinking Vanderbilt was an excellent writer with many new and important ideas on the fascinating subject of nuclear weapons, the cold war, and national security generally -- subjects which can easily be made drole, heavy, boring and/or tedious. For many, the so-called atomic era seems long gone and forgotten (and slightly silly in many aspects), but Vanderbilt makes the issues faced then seem relevant to many similar problems facing us today by placing them in a context of continuity. Highly recommended to a broad audience.
Boring - should have been much better.......2004-03-20
Tom Vanderbilt would love to be an architect. He's constantly critical of 1950's architecture - wherever he finds it.
With surprisingly little technical knowledge, he tours testing grounds and bunkers. But it's not all Atomic America: he has the same commentary towards Arcosanti and Biosphere. Where I yearn for a storyline, he delivers watered down architecural critique.
Vanderbilt's writing seems to follow this algorithm: Begin a paragraph using a sentence with an odd phrase in quotations. Then refute this with an academic argument. The first dozen times are fun. A whole book written in this style is tedious.
The 1950's nuclear crazyness presents a rich lode for research. The subject (and readers) deserves much more.
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