Editorial Review

During the Cold War, Soviet nuclear submarines tirelessly patrolled the Atlantic. Their missiles took aim at Washington, New York, and other major American cities. But they were also fairly low-tech contraptions, at least in comparison to the sophisticated U.S. subs that quietly tracked them. In 1986, one of these Soviet vessels nearly suffered a meltdown not far from Bermuda in what might have been a worse-than-Chernobyl accident. Read more

Reviews (31)

"The Hunt for Red October" only true
The parallels between this book and "The Hunt for Red October" are rather spooky considering "Hunt for Red October" was written first and is fictional while this book is non-fiction.Makes me wonder if some of the key players in this story were acting out "The Hunt for Red October" for real. Hostile Critic
I was excited when I found this book on Amazon and quickly purchased it. Once I got it I drove right in.Unfortunately this pre-reading excited set an expectation in my mind which was not fulfilled with the actual text. I also have a rather strict interpretation of a non-fiction book; I want an accurate telling of the story, not a lot of extra adjectives at every turn.The description of the book and some reviewers here have stated that the book read like a good novel, many state it is similar to The Hunt for Red October. In my opinion the book is no where near the level of Red October and if I wanted fiction I would buy fiction. At every chance this author tried to raise the level of excitement by over dramatizing each event.Even the initial cast off was stated in batted breath tones. And let's just say that for a fiction writer he really did not do a good job. "K-219"
"Down three thousand fathoms deep, Deaths of millions in her keep; With her, in eternal sleep -- Sergei Preminin."With these words begins Russell Hoban's poem immortalizing an extraordinary deed of an ordinary Russian submariner."Hostile Waters" also recounts Seaman Preminin's selfless sacrifice, which saved the lives of countless unsuspecting Americans.But this is only one of the riveting episodes of desperation and courage chronicled in this true story about a doomed nuclear submarine.Authors USN-AWS Capt. (ret.) Huchthausen and Soviet Capt. 1st. Rank Kurdin were participants in the ongoing Cold War events which led to the tragedy of K-219.Written with the assistance of accomplished novelist Robin A. White ("Siberian Light", "Ice Curtain"), their book reads like a spellbinding adventure of disaster and heroism on the sea.In 1986, the Soviet Navy, in its futile attempts to match its superior American counterpart, was sending its fleet of obsolete boomers to patrol the eastern coast of the US.Capt. Igor Britanov knew that his noisy, decrepit boat was being tracked from the moment she left her home port, and that once in American waters, he was being shadowed by a state-of-the-art hunter-killer.Following an unintentional collision by the USS Augusta, K-219 sustained severe damage which left her flooding and burning, with an open missile-hatch, on the surface.In a cascading chain of catastrophe, her nuclear reactor began to overheat.As the US military went on DEFCON alert, K-219 foundered in her desperate and dangerous death-throes.You, the reader, will intimately experience the Soviet crew's minute-by-minute struggle for survival.You will bond with the Russian Captain, whose fatherly affection for his men inspired their loyalty and dedication to the point of personal sacrifice.You will be astonished by the attrocious actions of the American Captain, which alienated his own crew and ultimately cost him his career.You will be disgusted by the competative uncooperativeness between the American armed forces, and the open hostility between individual branches of the Navy.You will be dismayed by the utter callousness of the US and Soviet governments whose disregard for human life imperilled the world.And you will never forget Sergei Preminin, who voluntarily entered the hot reactor and manually cranked down the stuck baffle-plates, thus preventing a meltdown mere miles off the American coast.For an eye-opening and disturbing view of US Cold War politics, and an even-handed and compassionate portrayal of the Opposition, read this "ten-star" story! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Europe - Russia & the Former Soviet Union    2. History    3. History - Military / War    4. Military    5. Military - Naval    6. Military - Nuclear Warfare    7. Safety    8. Adventure / thriller    9. History / Military / Naval   

Reviews (4)

A must-read for anyone involved in foreign affairs
In a very different period of time, I have travelled to (or lived in) almost all the places described in these memoirs. Furthermore, I have confronted - a generation or so removed - many similar anecdotes, characters and bureaucratic missteps.This book has a ring of authenticity that is striking. It describes the ordinary and then shifts smoothly to the momentous. I have not found anything else quite like it. (Leigh White's 'The Long Balkan Night' has this similar feature, but it's the story of a journalist). kennan's filth
His writing lacks coherency and he seems as though he genuinely has no knowledge of the subject, a thoroughly challenging book with no discernable benefit.The conclusion is inadequate and unjust, perhaps he should learn the facts first.

Historically Significant and Equally Sensitive - Rare Combo
It is extremely rare that the memoirs of someone who played a truly significant role in his country's history are also beautifully and sensitively written. They candidly reveal the shy and introspective man who also happen to have been a critical player in the U.S. relationship with the Soviet Union from the 1940s through the 1980s (from the late 1920s thorugh the 1950s in his governmental role and as historian and critic since then). Kennan is candid, brilliant, critical, and happens to have a wonderful writing style. This is personal history at its best. If you've read this one (which won the Pulitzer Prize), be sure to read the sequel. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1904-    2. Ambassadors    3. Biography    4. Biography & Autobiography    5. Biography / Autobiography    6. Biography/Autobiography    7. Diplomatic Service    8. Foreign relations    9. Historians    10. Historical - General    11. International Relations - General    12. Kennan, George Frost,    13. Political    14. Soviet Union    15. United States    16. International relations    17. Kennan, George Frost    18. Non-Classifiable   

Editorial Review

For the visual historians among us, Read more

Reviews (1)

Comparative design
This book contains some of the loveliest reproductions of old maps I have ever scene.Aside from the beautiful pictures, the author includes interesting and valuable commentary to help the reader understand thesecity plans in the context of history and geography.All those interestedin urban design should read the eloquent forward of this book.It would behighly beneficial if more of our political leaders, and just people ingeneral, understood this era in urban design- the end of the traditionaland the beginning of the modern.With the help of this book, perhaps wecan bring about a new commitment to intelligent and beautiful urbanplanning for the future. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Atlases    2. Atlases - General    3. General    4. Historical Atlases    5. Public, Commercial, or Industrial Buildings    6. Reference    7. Urban Design    8. World - General    9. ASIA    10. City & town planning - architectural aspects    11. Europe    12. History / World    13. Map making & projections    14. Prints & printmaking    15. Russia    16. USA    17. c 1800 to c 1900   

Reviews (35)

How to Supplement Figes' Work
Several of the earlier reviewers have covered the book very well, including both its strengths and weaknesses. I have to nothing to add or subtract, but some recommendations to make.There is a very good "interpretive" cultural history of Russia written in the 1960's by James Billington (who is the Librarian of Congress).The book is still in print and is one of five or six concerning Russian history and culture written by Billington.For reader-reviewers who felt that Russian history prior to the late 17th century was slighted by Figes, Billington's book is the place to go for information on the earlier period, especially on Russian Orthodoxy --its art,architecture, and influence on political and cultural life.The abundance and high quality of 20th century translations of Russian literature (both prose and poetry)almost obviates the need of a "cultural interpreter" for the period of the last 120 years or so.Edmund Wilson's "To the Finland Station" does this sort of job for the relationship between the radicalized ideas of the Enlightenment and Russian political life, but should be read with the cautionary note that he himself lost his enthusiasm for Leninism as a real solution to Russia's age-old social and economic problems. Reading a typical 1930's era hagiography of Stalin by any Western writer who leaned to the left is especially informative if you read any of the post-mortem biographies (Volkogonov's, R. Tucker's, etc.)that tell the truly awful story of the man, who chose to bestride culture as well as politics as a "colossus".Chekov, Bulgakov and the far less talented Solzhenitsyn(I mean this only from the point of literary skill, his importance lying in other directions) will also show you life as perceived by those who have lived it in its recent Russian incarnation.My "supplementary" list slights a few areas (the visual arts, music, film), but each of these areas has been treated in depth and with finesse by 20th century authors whose work is available in English.Like any book of this type, Figes' work should be a starting point from which the reader can branch out along many possible paths (and then come back and read it again, say five or ten years later, after exploring some of the territory in depth; then he or she will be able to better judge whether or not it does a good comprehensive job.)
Full of information but poorly written
As a Russian Student at Moscow Lomonsov State University, my whole education is surrounded by Russia, Russians, and most of all history. I love it. But I don't love this book. I've had it for almost three years and still can't get around to finishing it all. It's a big, big book. One of the reason why I love history books so much is because they are a bargain! However that didn't turn me off, I actually was quite happy with the amount of information and the color excepts were fantastic. I can tell the author is enthusiasm for the cultural history because it goes from speaking about traveling musicians to how Peter the Great abhorred the unwesternized ways of Moscow. I mean, it goes from one thing to an completely different topic in only a paragraph on one page, and then picks up back with describing the local music of the small villages. The information is so rich and he wants to describe everything to us at once that the reader can get so overwhelmed and lost that it becomes boring to read. It isn't my first history book and I have so many unexciting textbooks I have to read, but I rather read my law book -- in Cyrillic -- then attempt to actually finish this book. You would think with around 700 pages he would be able to take his time. No doubt, this is for the serious reader and someone who is in need to cite something for their term paper (the index works very well indeed, that's one star) and the major information it gives you that you could hardly find in a text book (that's another star) but as reading you c

A Moving Portrait of Russian Culture
This is an extraordinarily moving portrait of Russian culture, seen through its writers, poets and composers, peasant folklore, painters and aristocratic manners. The motif that runs through the book is the tussle between the western and the eastern influences in the Russian consciousness, a tussle that gives the Russian soul its peculiarly dichotomous cahracter, and Russian culture it distinct blend of western rationality and eastern mysticism. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the differences between MOscow and St. Petersburg, the latter modelled after the grand capitals of Europe; the former evolving with the earthiness of Mother Russia, complete with its oriental onion-domes that look like something out of the Arabian Nights. The most poignant part of the book is the efforts of post-revolution Russian emigres in coming to terms with the "loss" of Russia in all its physical vastness, a landscape that had so informed their art. Thier longing for Russia was an almost visceral yearning that tormented them all their lives. (For a similarly moving book on the modern Chinese artistic/intellectual tradition, see Jonathan Spence's THE GATE OF HEAVENLY PEACE.) ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Europe - Russia & the Former Soviet Union    2. History    3. History - General History    4. History Of Civilization And Culture (General)    5. History: World    6. Russia - History    7. World - General   

Features

• Illustrated

Subjects:  1. History - General History    2. History    3. Biography & Autobiography / General    4. Biography: historical    5. European history: c 1750 to c 1900    6. RUSSIA (FEDERATION)_BIOGRAPHY    7. RUSSIA (FEDERATION)_HISTORY    8. Russia    9. Europe - Russia & the Former Soviet Union    10. Russia - History    11. History: World   

Reviews (12)

"And there shall be destruction and darkness come upon creation
and the beasts shall reign over the earth."
For the well-versed reader
This is definitely a fascinating work, in addition to being surprisingly readable. You will learn A LOT! However, the nature of the book is such that not everything the authors' wrote was accurate, and this book is better read by people already well-versed in WWII history. If you are knowledgable about WWII, and Hitler in particular, this is a "must read" if you want to remain on top of your game. Make sure to read the Editors' afterword.

A simply fascinating portrait of Adolf Hitler
Deftly read by Michael Prichard and competently researched by historians Henrik Eberle and Matthias Uhl, The Hitler Book: The Secret Dossier Prepared For Stalin From The Interrogations Of Hitler's Personal Aides is a simply fascinating portrait of Adolf Hitler which came about as the result of Stalin's orders for its writing whence post war proof of Hitler's suicide was not sufficient enough of a confirmation of his death for the leader of the USSR. As an intricate explanation and informative documentation of the living truths of Adolf Hitler, The Hitler Book defines the every attainable detailing of what private life he persistently retained as well as the stresses and complexities he had endured throughout his life and dictatorship. The Hitler Book is very strongly recommended to all students and peoples intrigued by the history of the Third Reich, World War II, Adolf Hitler and the more personal occurrences of his life all subject in this previously unreleased documentation.
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Subjects:  1. 1889-1945    2. 1933-1945    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Europe - Germany    6. Europe - Russia & the Former Soviet Union    7. Germany    8. Germany - History - Third Reich (1933-1945)    9. Historical - General    10. History    11. History - Military / War    12. Hitler, Adolf,    13. Military - World War II    14. Sources    15. World War, 1939-1945    16. European history: Second World War    17. Russia   

Reviews (2)

chipping at cliches
After years of predictable cliches from the likes of Bartov and Goldenhagen,finally a work that does away with overused preconceived notions.A courageous work

An effective contribution to an important debate
The German-occupied Soviet Union suffered horribly during World War Two. Its population was subjected to the mass murder of Jews, politicals and other groups, to the ruthless exploitation of economic resources for the Nazi war effort, and to often extremely terroristic security measures in the name of "necessary" anti-partisan warfare. Alexander Hill's book seeks to explain the activities of both Soviet partisans and German occupiers in the occupation zone of the Army Group North Rear Area between 1941 and 1944. It is one of a growing array of studies of the complexities of life at the lower levels of Nazi occupied Europe, and makes an important contribution towards understanding the Soviet partisan war on the ground. It also benefits greatly from a range of heplful tables and maps, photographs, and a clear and engaging writing style.
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Subjects:  1. Anti-fascist movements    2. Europe - Russia & the Former Soviet Union    3. General    4. Guerrillas    5. History    6. History - Military / War    7. Military    8. Military - General    9. Military - World War II    10. Soviet Union, Northwestern    11. Underground movements    12. World War, 1939-1945    13. History / Military / General    14. Russia   

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. History    3. Performing Arts    4. Performing Arts/Dance    5. Russia    6. Soviet Union    7. Theater    8. Theater - History & Criticism   

Subjects:  1. British Columbia    2. History    3. History - General History    4. History - U.S.    5. History: American    6. Northwest, Pacific    7. Religious refugees    8. Russian Americans    9. Russians    10. Sociology    11. United States - State & Local    12. United States - State & Local - General    13. Civil rights & citizenship    14. Eastern Europe    15. History / United States / State & Local    16. Immigration & emigration    17. Religion: general    18. TRAVEL & HOLIDAY    19. USA   

Reviews (10)

Prague:More Black than Gold
Professor Demetz is especially strong in exploring the religious history of the city.I wondered how he could be so erudite in explaining both the Hussite revolt against Catholicism and Rabbi Loew's conflict with the Jewish establishment.He explained in his beautiful, elegiac afterword that his father's family was Christian; his mother's, Jewish.He spent time in a Nazi labor camp for half-Jews.My suggestion would be to read the afterword first.The bibliography is also very helpful, with rather blunt appraisals of cited works.

Wandering bit of storytelling
What, I wonder, was the point of Prague in Black and Gold? The back cover actually refers to Peter Demetz's book as a city guide - why I have no idea, since it certainly is not even close to that style of writing. It looks suspiciously like a history text, and so I shall treat it, but problems remain. A comprehensive piece on Czech people and history
I have just returned from my first trip Prague and Ostrava. The history of the region is a bit confusing to us who are not familiar with this part of the world. This is an important part of the world, after all the genesis of the First World War is connected to the Bohemian Prince who was also a successor to the Habsburg throne.Read more

Subjects:  1. Central Europe - History    2. Eastern Europe - Czech Republic & Slovakia    3. Eastern Europe - Czechoslovakia    4. Europe - Former Soviet Republics    5. History    6. History - General History    7. History Of Individual Cities    8. History: World    9. Prague (Czech Republic)    10. Social Science / Sociology / Urban   

Reviews (7)

Highly Recommended
I have seen some criticism of this book, including from professional historians, but I don't see it. I found this to be an absorbing and fascinating look at both Hitler & Stalin, as the author cuts back and forth between their careers. The compare and contrast method really works quite well, and this book also gives Overy a chance to re-look at some of his work on Nazi Germany & Soviet Russia, after Soviet archives were coming available. I think this is a great work of history by a major historian- one who has proved his knowledge of a wide range of WWII matters. Not for the dilletante- its quite long, but for the serious WWII reader its a rewarding experience.

Very Informational, but a little too informational...
The Dictators, of course, porvided a lot of information about Stalin and Hitler, but one thing was prevailant throughout the book: numbers. The facts Richard Overy presented to the reader left little to be doubted about his thesis, but also it was hard to understand them (and it blocked the flow). I rate this 4 stars because although my criticisms may be harsh, it taught me much about Hitler and Stalin, it will serve as a good reference book, and I may want to reread it when I have a fuller understanding of the two Dictators. (This is coming from a 10th Grade history enthusiast)

Outstanding
Overy is more than a scholar; he is a deep thinker.There is a world of difference."The Dictators" is a seminal work comparing how the two greatest dictators of all time exercised control over their political, economic, and military systems all while laying out the implications of this control.
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Subjects:  1. Europe - General    2. Europe - Germany    3. Europe - Russia & the Former Soviet Union    4. History    5. History - General History    6. History: World    7. Political Ideologies - Fascism & Totalitarianism    8. Europe    9. Germany    10. History / General    11. Miscellaneous Items   

Subjects:  1. Biography & Autobiography    2. Christianity - Orthodox Churches    3. History: World    4. Religious    5. Alaska    6. Christian saints    7. Evangelism    8. Religion & Beliefs    9. Russia   

Reviews (2)

School book...
I read this for my History, Technology and Science class in college. It is quite intriguing a life that Palchinsky leads. The book starts off telling about his life in general and how it ended, and his influences on Russia. But then halfway through the book, the focus shifts to descriptions of technological failures the Soviet Union encountered and how they struggled to beat other countries in the engineering field. Exclude the human element from planning at your peril.
The Soviet Union became the world�s second largest industrial power,resisted and defeated Hitler�s armies in World War II, and finally launchedthe first artificial satellite and first human into Earth orbit.Despitethese achievements the Soviet Union collapsed short of the 75th anniversaryof the Bolshevik revolution.Read more

Subjects:  1. Engineers    2. General    3. History    4. History - General History    5. Science/Mathematics    6. Technology    7. Technology And Society    8. Technology / General   

Subjects:  1. Asia, Central    2. Bulgars (Turkic people)    3. Description and travel    4. Europe - Russia & the Former Soviet Union    5. History    6. History: World    7. Russia    8. Russia (Federation)    9. Tatarstan (Russia)    10. Travel - Foreign    11. Volga River Region    12. ASIA    13. Central Asia    14. Classic travel writing    15. Eastern Europe    16. c 500 CE to c 1000 CE   

Editorial Review

Among the seven essays collected in Read more

Reviews (6)

Berlin at his best - the true fox
This study of Russian thinkers is profound and moving. Isaiah Berlin was capable of writing about 'ideas' and their ' development' ina constantly fascinating way. His most well- known essay ' The Hedgehog and the Fox' is in this volume and it seems that Berlin himself was one of those who knew many things and wanted to know many things. His political ideas also took the shape of recognizing conflicting value systems as having validity even when those came from within a single person. Here he writes about the great Russian social and political thinkers Tolstoy, Herzen,Belinsky , Bakunin , Turgenevwith characteristic insight, irony and sympathy.
Highly Useful Historic Resource
This book provides an excellent introduction to the history of Russian thought.I supplemented it with the pertinent chapters of Billington's "The Icon and the Axe" to piece together a general outline of the evolution of Russian political philosophy.Maybe I didn't pay enough attention to Berlin's own philosophizing, but then that wasn't my objective.I found one of his general observations about Russian thought to be particularly useful, i.e. the tendency to follow an idea through to its fullest consequences, no matter how extreme or objectionable.The book nicely sets the stage for how Marxism was able to take hold, showing that it was in some ways an evolutionary, rather than revolutionary, intellectual development.The problem is, now that the book has allowed me to cobble together a general framework of Russian thought, the only possible next step is to start directly reading Hegel and Marx! And who wouldn't try to put off a daunting task like that?

Worth the read but....
Berlin is an interesting and I agree knowing commentator, but one gets the feeling that he understands there is something awry in Communism, but he's not quite sure what.His ideas of freedom are on the mark, but in the post-Communist world they don't quite get to the point.I highly reccomend papal biographer and political pholosopher George Weigel's recent commentaties, (available online).Liberalism was not and is not a sufficient answer to utopian ideology, which Berlin nevertheless correctly asserts will inevitably degenerate into totalitatianism.Even more, in the post-cold war world, relativism has usurped "true" freedom, which presents perhaps an even more dangerous problem than the Soviet one. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Europe - Russia & the Former Soviet Union    2. History & Surveys - Modern    3. Philosophy    4. Philosophy / Modern    5. Russia    6. Western philosophy, from c 1900 -   

Reviews (1)

A modern fascinating account
This book follows the history of 'inner asia' from the time of the Islamic conquests to modern day independence.The area covered is the steppe lands from Mongolia to the former soviet republics(Kazakhstan, Uzbek, Tajik, Turkmen and Kyrgiz) as well as the Sinkiang(Xinxiang/Uiguer) province of China.It covers with wonderful fluid writing the history from the original linguistic families of Turkic speaking tribesmen to the arrival of Islam.We see how the people were once Buddhist and how Arabic script colonized them only to be repalced by Cyrillic in modern times.We are told of the the story of the Kok Turks, and CHinese expansion into Inner and outer mongolia.Various dynasties are covered, including Persian influence and the lands of Bokhara and Khiva.The arrival of the Mongols is explained and the decline through to Soviet expansion
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Subjects:  1. Asia - General    2. Asia, Central    3. Europe - Russia & the Former Soviet Union    4. History    5. History - General History    6. History: World    7. Mongolia    8. World - General    9. Xinjiang Uygur Zizhiqu (China)    10. Asia, Central--History    11. Asian / Middle Eastern history    12. Central Asia    13. History / Russia (pre- & post-Soviet Union)   

Reviews (4)

Fascinating, intellectually-stimulating book!
I picked this book up a long time ago and have read it over and over again.I never tire of the parables, insights, and mystery that surrounded the life of Richard Wurmbrand.What a mighty man of God who gave all for his love of Christ.A Messianic Jew who knew intimately the sorrows of this world.Yet, his faith in Christ sustained him through some of the most brutal, horrific trials on record.

A beautiful, spiritually-challenging book!
I read this book and could not put it down!I now use it as a devotional book it is so beautifully written and full of spiritual gems.

Astonishingly beautiful book!
Wurmbrand is a man of many sufferings, tragedies, but also spiritual triumphs of the most amazing kind.I have worn out my copy of this convicting, encouraging, and challenging spiritual masterpiece.Wurmbrand has now passed away but his life and writings exist to carry on the message that even in severe suffering, Christ is with us.This book reminds us that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, not even Communist torturers and corrupt governments (which still abound).This book has sustained me through difficult times, and read as a devotional it is a daily dose of comfort and compassion. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Religion    2. History / Soviet Union    3. Richard Wurmbrand   

Reviews (2)

A Sad Story
This book may well be the very best history of the native peoples of Siberia and their conquest by the Russians in the past centuries.
Forsyth narrates the stages of Soviet exploitation of Siberi
Reviewed by Johanna Granville, Clemson University, Clemson, SC USARead more

Subjects:  1. Eastern Europe - General    2. Europe - Former Soviet Republics    3. Europe - Russia & the Former Soviet Union    4. History    5. History - General History    6. History: World    7. ASIA    8. Asian / Middle Eastern history    9. Ethnology - Russian S.F.S.R. - Siberia    10. History / Former Soviet Republics    11. History / Russia (pre- & post-Soviet Union)    12. History of specific racial & ethnic groups    13. History-Eastern Europe - General    14. History-Europe - Russia & the Former Soviet Union    15. Modern period, c 1500 onwards    16. Russia   

Reviews (19)

Read the book in the country - a hilarious account!
Having just traveled through Moldova on a cycling trip through Eastern Europe, I was fortunate enough to have the chance to read this whilst staying at the one and only hostel in Chisinau, the capital of Moldova.
good preparation for a visit to Moldova
Without this book - I would surely have fallen down a manhole! As soon as I finished reading I added a head torch to my equipment list! I knew I was about to visit for 6 months and found the book fantastic preparation - whilst also being gut-wrenchingly funny. I have a massive collection of photographs of open manholes if anyone wants proof of the authenticity of this particular aspect of life in Moldova.
Laugh out loud funny
Having met a Moldovan at work and realising I knew nothing of the place, I typed in Moldova into Amazon's search engine and found this book.
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Subjects:  1. Description And Travel    2. Essays & Travelogues    3. Europe - Ireland    4. Europe - Russia & the Former Soviet Union    5. Hawks, Tony    6. Moldova    7. Tennis    8. Tennis tournaments    9. Tournaments    10. Travel    11. Travel - General    12. Journeys   

Editorial Review

With all the suspense and intrigue of a Cold War thriller,Read more

Reviews (15)

Thoughtfully told
Barron's prose is articulate and well-phrased without wandering into pedantic posturing.We rarely know his opinion of all the goings-on, and what events he describes!We are quickly lost in this real world of espionage and deception, thoughtfully recreated by an author who knows his business and tells it well.An exciting read.

Hollywood - Put aside sequels and produce this!
The only thing more incredible than the story of Morris and Jack Childs, brothers who, from the early 1950s through the late 1970s, were FBI assets within the American Communist Party, and who were personal friends of Soviet leaders, is that Hollywood has yet to commit this to celluloid.Here were four brave Americans--to include their intrepid wives, Eva and Roz--who for decades risked their lives to report to the FBI (and from the Bureau to the President) on the thoughts and intentions of Soviet leaders.So trusted by their friends in the Soviet leadership, they served as secret Soviet emissaries to China and Cuba, reporting back to the Soviets the attitudes and positions of Mao and Castro.Thus successive U.S. presidents enjoyed unique intelligence on the thinking of not only the Soviets, but of the Chinese and the Cubans as well.The story told in OPERATION SOLO is spellbinding, frought with tension, occasionally leavened by the earthy humor of its principal players.This is, in short, a terrific story about great Americans--hardworking FBI agents who shied away from the spotlight, and their courageous assets--that demands to be read or, someday, seen on screen.
Unbelievable - but true!
This is an incredible story of a courageous couple of brothers and their wives who, while initially being drawn into Communism, were able to see the ugly truth behind it, and use their backgrounds to become the greatest spies in history.The book is written very well and as such it is hard to put down.Aside from a great story of intrigue, the b