- Hardcover: 320 pages
- Publisher: Saint Martin's Press Inc.; 1 edition (2 April 2009)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0312380232
- ISBN-13: 978-0312380236
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 16.3 x 3.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 517,963 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Review
"An exciting and realistic journey deep into the cold black waters of covert submarine espionage during the Cold War era." --Kenneth Sewell, "New York"" Times" bestselling author of "Red Star Rogue "and "All Hands Down"
"No submariner has ever served aboard a boat called "Blackfin, "and every submariner has. For nukes especially, "Stalking the Red Bear" is a cross between finding a covert diary and coming home." --Sherry Sontag, coauthor of the "New York Times "bestseller "Blind Man's Bluff: The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage" --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
Product Description
"Stalking the Red Bear", for the first time ever, describes the action principally from the perspective of a commanding officer of a nuclear submarine during the Cold War - the one man aboard a sub who makes the critical decisions - taking readers closer to the Soviet target than any work on submarine espionage has ever done before. This is the untold story of a covert submarine espionage operation against the Soviet Union during the Cold War as experienced by the Commanding Officer of an active submarine. Few individuals outside the intelligence and submarine communities knew anything about these top-secret missions. Cloaking itself in virtual invisibility to avoid detection, the USS Blackfin went sub vs. sub deep within Soviet-controlled waters north of the Arctic Circle, where the risks were extraordinarily high and anything could happen.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Five COMPELLING Stars! In "Stalking the Red Bear", author Peter Sasgen investigates highly-classified U.S. Navy nuclear attack submarine operations that were conducted under the code name "Holystone", which according to the author encompassed clandestine Navy "covert submarine espionage operations against the Soviet Union". It began in the late 1940's and continued through the remainder of the Cold War and beyond. But this book is not a work of documented history, although it addresses incidents like the "Thresher" and the "Scorpion": it takes the reader on a fascinating, sometimes hair-raising journey made up of reconstructed operations, procedures, scenes, and conversations based on unlimited, unclassified access by the author to an actual 'Holystone' attack submarine commander: the payoff is that the reader follows a notional crew on a step-by-step spine-tingling deployment to the Barents Sea. it's a risky literary approach for a real-world book, but as one gets caught up in the undersea action, it works. A prodigious amount of information, 'word pictures', and history is imparted to the reader using this convention. Antisubmarine warfare (ASW) and intelligence gathering are major parts of thls book, but the hardships, tenacity, and dedication of the heroic 'submariner' personnel and their families are the real story. The U.S.S.R. once threatened to "bury" America, this book shows how seriously we took the threat of all-out war and how our un-trackable nuclear subs were the hammer the Soviets feared most of all. You may never forget the experiences of the pseudonymous "Captain Roy Hunter" and the "USS Blackfin". And do read the appendices which are loaded with anecdotes, such as some of the heroic exploits of "Lucky" Fluckey and Street, both Congressional Medal of Honor winners: well worth the time. If you are new to nuclear submarine operations, this may open your eyes to the undersea world and 'cat & mouse' operations between nations. 'My Highest Recommendation. Five HUGE Stars! (This review is based on a Kindle download.)
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book was obviously difficult to write as it is so upto date and I suppose many aspects will remain classified. The author had decided to write it as part as a factual account and part as a fictional story based on real events to try to give a feel for what it was like.
I found some of it very interesting, both about the cold war secret missions (some of the things the US managed to do in the cold war were amazingly daring) and how the submarine had evolved to do this i.e the factual part. I learned a lot new here despite having read a few books in this area. During the discussion of how 'special ops' developed he played down the special ops that were extensively carried out by British subs in world war 2 which seemed odd given that the rest of the book was well researched.
Also I did find that it seemed a bit one sided - that the US had it all thier own way. Maybe they did I am not a sub captain but it just seemed that way to me.
Somehow the fictional part did not work for me having read the far more riveting novels by Tom Clancey which were almost a informative and far more fun (but obviously sexed up a bit).
Worth a read if you like factual books. Better with Tom Clancey if you want a full on novel (to be fair this book does not claim to be a novel - more of a reflection of a real patrol).
I found some of it very interesting, both about the cold war secret missions (some of the things the US managed to do in the cold war were amazingly daring) and how the submarine had evolved to do this i.e the factual part. I learned a lot new here despite having read a few books in this area. During the discussion of how 'special ops' developed he played down the special ops that were extensively carried out by British subs in world war 2 which seemed odd given that the rest of the book was well researched.
Also I did find that it seemed a bit one sided - that the US had it all thier own way. Maybe they did I am not a sub captain but it just seemed that way to me.
Somehow the fictional part did not work for me having read the far more riveting novels by Tom Clancey which were almost a informative and far more fun (but obviously sexed up a bit).
Worth a read if you like factual books. Better with Tom Clancey if you want a full on novel (to be fair this book does not claim to be a novel - more of a reflection of a real patrol).
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
17 reviews
22 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Nice Memories
2 Jan 2010
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
I also served on a 637 class attack submarine and agree with most of the sentiments of the prior reviews. I did find the book fun to read and very informative. It created a great source of memories for something I experienced almost 40 years ago as a junior nuclear trained officer. I feel that the author did a great job of surmising what was happening on the Russian side of the equation. This was something we did almost everyday while on patrol. I am giving this book to my friends who really want to know what we did back in the day . As the former CO said, it wasn't flashy but it was an interesting job. I am very happy that I purchased this book. The author did a nice job.
24 of 26 people found the following review helpful
NUCLEAR STRIKE SUBS: STALKING THE U.S.S.R. FROM UNDER THE SEAS.
28 April 2009
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Five COMPELLING Stars! In "Stalking the Red Bear", author Peter Sasgen investigates highly-classified U.S. Navy nuclear attack submarine operations that were conducted under the code name "Holystone", which according to the author encompassed clandestine Navy "covert submarine espionage operations against the Soviet Union". It began in the late 1940's and continued through the remainder of the Cold War and beyond. But this book is not a work of documented history, although it addresses incidents like the "Thresher" and the "Scorpion": it takes the reader on a fascinating, sometimes hair-raising journey made up of reconstructed operations, procedures, scenes, and conversations based on unlimited, unclassified access by the author to an actual 'Holystone' attack submarine commander: the payoff is that the reader follows a notional crew on a step-by-step spine-tingling deployment to the Barents Sea. it's a risky literary approach for a real-world book, but as one gets caught up in the undersea action, it works. A prodigious amount of information, 'word pictures', and history is imparted to the reader using this convention. Antisubmarine warfare (ASW) and intelligence gathering are major parts of thls book, but the hardships, tenacity, and dedication of the heroic 'submariner' personnel and their families are the real story. The U.S.S.R. once threatened to "bury" America, this book shows how seriously we took the threat of all-out war and how our un-trackable nuclear subs were the hammer the Soviets feared most of all. You may never forget the experiences of the pseudonymous "Captain Roy Hunter" and the "USS Blackfin". And do read the appendices which are loaded with anecdotes, such as some of the heroic exploits of "Lucky" Fluckey and Street, both Congressional Medal of Honor winners: well worth the time. My Highest Recommendation. Five HUGE Stars! (This review is based on a Kindle download.)
20 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Stalking the Red Bear
31 Aug 2009
Format:Hardcover
I am a retired submarine commander. This book is technically accurate, but not very thrilling reading. (Our patrols were not very thrilling most of the time, either.)
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