Saturday 10 December 2022

BOOK REVIEW: 1983.

THE WORLD AT THE BRINK.



 I bought this book on a visit to the seaside on my birthday. Not the usual subject matter I look for but a quick canter through the pages looked interesting.

The book basically relates world events leading up to the NATO war-games of late 1983 during which the Russians started to believe that NATO was about to launch a full scale nuclear first strike against them. The book gives a clear indication of just how close we came to nuclear war mainly due to the West not realising how paranoid Russia had become at the time.

The book gives a good history of Ronald Reagan coming to power and his strong anti Russian stance, the poor and geriatric leadership in Russia and the increasing weakness of the Russian economy which led to the fall of the USSR a few years later. In effect it gives the history of the final few years of the USSR as it collapsed under the weight of the Cold War which resulted in serious instability in the Russian leadership and a nuclear crisis made worse by the failure of US intelligence services to clearly recognise what was happening in Russia.

This is an exciting read much like a Tom Clancy novel....but real !!!! which of course makes it very scary.
Highly recommended for anyone interested in recent world history and the fall of the USSR.

4 comments:

  1. Never heard of this before but could be a useful resource for my Cold War armies, as and when I get around to building them. I'd just started Uni back then, so it will be interesting to see what was happening at the time that we were completely unaware of!

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  2. Hi Steve....I had never heard of this event before either despite being over 30 at the time. It is amazing to read about events during one's life time that are now history !!!!! and scary too. Strongly recommend you get this book, you will enjoy. Regards.

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  3. The West is still overfond of talking about Russia's 'paranoia'. Typical projection: it was the West who was paranoid. Yet at the same time quite failing to appreciate that the West's security concerns might well be matched (and with far more compelling reason) by those of the Soviet Union. What otherwise than Western 'paranoia' were these military 'exercises' (what George Carlin called 'dick waving') about? Remember what NATO was for: to keep the United States in, Germany down and the Soviet Union out. Seventy-three years later, the motives and modus operandi remain unchanged.

    I think one has also to remember: the Soviet Union's nuclear policy then was the same as Russia's is now: no first strike. More accurately, strike only if already under attack, OR the existence of the nation is at stake. That kind of policy demands a much higher level of alertness that if one reserves the right, as G.W.Bush announced 20 years ago, the right of the US to first strike, at any time, anywhere, for any reason. That stance has never been rescinded.
    Cheers,
    Ion

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    1. Hi Ion.....In fairness to the book a great deal of what you said is actually included. It certainly recognises that Russia feels far more threatened by the West than we feel threatened by Russia. The book is actually well balanced and I suggest would be of interest to you. It is certainly more sympathetic to Russia than is usual. The main criticism is the inability of Russia to find leaders who would put the well being of the Russian people ahead of themselves or the "party" but of course that is an issue for the West too !!!!!!!.....Regards

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