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Cold War Hot: Alternative Decisions of the Cold War Hardcover – 21 Nov 2002

by Peter Tsouras (Author, Editor)

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It was in the Third World that the ambitions and fears of the two Cold War superpowers were played out - 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. Peter G. Tsouras' alternate histories are Disaster at D-Day, Gettysburg: An Alternate History, The Hitler Options (as contributing author), and Rising Sun Victorious and Third Reich Victorious.

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Product details

Hardcover: 240 pages
Publisher: Greenhill Books; 1st Edition edition (21 Nov. 2002)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 185367530X
ISBN-13: 978-1853675300
Product Dimensions: 16.5 x 2.5 x 24.1 cm
Average Customer Review: 3 customer reviews
Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 747,359 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #621 in Defence Strategy & Research
- #2054 in Science Fiction Alternate History
- #2831 in Military History of Strategy, Tactics & Military Science

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Synopsis

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.

About the Author

Peter G. Tsouras is a senior analyst at the Battelle Corporation. His alternate histories are Disaster at D-Day, Gettysburg: An Alternate History, The Hitler Options (as contributing author), and Rising Sun Victorious and Third Reich Victorious (as editor and contributing author).

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SeriousMilAvBuff

Three Stars

24 June 2018

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Some interesting scenarios

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William J. Read

Interesting... but misses many opportunities

21 February 2014

Format: Hardcover

I was misled by the synopsis on this Amazon website; it claims that the books dealt with the Cuban Missile Crisis as one of the scenarios; this is incorrect. As this was the main scenario that I wanted to read about, the omission was a disappointment. The scenarios that were covered dealt witha range of material, as outlined in the excellent first review, and the synopsis; most are plausible, but I disagree with the first reviewer about Quebec; I thought that this was the least satisfactory scenario.

The missed opportunities are numerous, particularly in the 1960s. Any of the following scenarios would have added greatly to the completeness of the book. June 1961 saw the failed US backed Cuban mercenary invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs; had President Kennedy authorised thre massive US intervention that USAF General Curtis Lemay demanded to ensure the success of the operation to overthrow the Cuban Government, history would have been very different. Just 2 months later, in August 1961, the division of Berlin was carried out; Allied military intevention, had it occurred, would quickly have escalated into conflct with the Soviet forces in the GDR and Berlin.

The Cuban Missile crisis of October 1962 was perhaps the most glaring omission from the book, which would have allowed several "hot" scenarios to be considered. The Warsaw Pact intervention on Czechoslovakia in 1968 could also have turned "hot" had the CSSR Government appealed for assistance from nearby NATO forces.

For those interested in the Cold War this book is worth reading, but was, overall, a little disappointing.

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Chris

Cold War Not So Hot

18 August 2003

Format: Hardcover

I'm a big fan of alternative history titles, in particular those supposedly written as text books after the event. Cold War Hot, however, proved to be one of the most disappointing I have read.
The premise is pretty straight forwards - how the Cold War could have turned out differently - but this appears to have generated pretty uninspired scenarios. Starting chronilogicaly the first 'event' considered is an exchange between Western fighter escorts and Soviet aircraft during the Berlin airlift, which results in the USAF pasting the Russians. Later chapters consider Soviet/US hostilities in Med, resulting in the US giving the eastern block a sounder thrashing than it recieved (notice the pattern forming here?). Things also get pretty outrageous - a Soviet cruiser is effectively knocked out by a F4 launched Sidewinder air-to-air missile! Why then 3, not 1 star? For me the work is almost worth it for the Quebec sepratist scenario which, in my opinion, is what alternative history should be all about: well researched, plausible (read the authors notes) and reaches its goal without too much suspension of disbelief. Incidently this is also one of the few scenarios which actually appears to signifcantly affect the course of the cold war (in the others, things tend to return to the historical path so have little real impact. The exception is the Invasion of North Vietnam scenario although as the author states this results in North-South Korea situation should this be classed, as argued, a US victory?). All in all a missed opportunity - try 'What If' or the 'Hitler Options' first - but one for students of Cold War politics rather alternative history.

25 people found this helpful

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Amazon.com: 18 reviews

Hamburger Dude

Last scenario was definitely the best

6 June 2016 - Published on Amazon.com

Verified Purchase

In general, I enjoyed this book as I've enjoyed most of Peter Tsouras' work. Some of the situations were, IMHO, a bit stretched, but not entirely implausible. The last chapter, I thought, was the most entertaining, an unusual NATO response to a Soviet invasion of Western Europe. That story alone was worth the price of the book for me. Having served in The US Army in West Berlin in the mid 70's translating Russian military intercepts, I can say that it's my opinion that this very amusing chapter is not as unbelievable as some might think. A knowledge of world history. particularly of the last half of the twentieth century, would be of definite benefit before reading this book.

Jake Mohlman

Generally excellent collection

1 June 2003 - Published on Amazon.com

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

It is the unfortunate fact of collections of allo-historical scenarios like "Cold War Hot" (including the "What If?" books and "Virtual History") that the tend to be rather uneven in their quality. This is due to the reality that a collection of diverse writers will necessarily have different talents and different focuses which are more or less conducive to the writing of alternate history. That said, "Cold War Hot" ranks highly among the alternate history collections, and includes some of the best and most original pieces I have encountered.
Obviously, "Cold War Hot" examines various alternate paths that the Cold War could have taken that would have resulted in either combat where there was none, or in a greater, more violent operational tempo. Divided into ten chapters, the book considers every time period from the Berlin Blockade through 1989. It is notable that when compared to other similar collections, the authors generally spend very little time discussing what actually did happen; in fact, other than a "what really happened" section at the end of each chapter, the content is probably at least eighty percent allo-historical. While this is great for someone well versed in the various Cold War flashpoints, it could be frustrating for someone who has only a vague grasp of twentieth century history, so be forewarned.
The first two chapters are probably the weakest; the first deals with an air battle surrounding the Berlin Airlift, and the second with a successfully executed North Korean invasion of South Korea. Aside from the fact that both are rather predictable jumping off points, neither one is fleshed out particularly well and they both end rather abruptly. They aren't terrible, but they're definitely the week spots in this collection.
The next scenario somewhat belies the title of the book as it presumes a pacification of Vietnam achieved at a much lower level of violence. While a little bit slower than the other chapters, it is still very well written and posits a thorough and believable alternate path for the Vietnam intervention.
Chapters four and eight deal with events in the Middle East; the first around the Six Days War and the latter around the Yom Kippur War. From an operational standpoint, these are probably the two most thorough scenarios, as orders of battle are examined in detail, and armed clashes occur across the breadth of the Mediterranean. While the basis for both scenarios is well established in alternate political histories, it is in the "hot" aspect that they really shine.
Chapters five and six are my two favorites, as they deal with the most esoteric 'what-ifs' in the book. Chapter five in particular is in my experience completely original as it examines the consequences of a violent Quebecois revolution in the late 1960's. As someone who witnessed the relatively peaceful attempts at secession in the late 1990's, this was an eye-opening and thoroughly enjoyable scenario. Chapter six deals with a Soviet invasion of communist China. This is another scenario where the military aspects are thoroughly detailed, and it contains probably the best presentation in terms of fiction versus history. Moreover, this scenario has the added bonus of nukes and chemicals weapons being deployed and used, which only adds to the tension.
Chapter seven is another Vietnam scenario, and serves as a nice counterpoint to chapter three, as it deals with the ultimate escalation, an invasion North Vietnam. This is another chapter that is extremely strong in operational details, and especially order of battle and the deployment of specific units. Some of the dialogue is a little hackneyed, but overall this is a great chapter.
Chapter nine deals with a different outcome for the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. While there is some military action, this chapter's focus is primarily in the political realm, and it is largely successful. However, there is one glaring mistake in this chapter: there is a map which should display forces as "Soviet/Indian" and "Pakistani", instead it shows "U.S." and "Russian" which was extremely confusing for a few pages until I picked up on the error.
The final chapter I won't even describe briefly as it is completely out of right field, and doing so would spoil it. That's not to say that this is an unbelievable scenario; while tongue is planted firmly in cheek, it is not utterly beyond the realms of possibility, and it was great fun to read.
Ultimately, this is a very successful collection, with some genuinely original scenarios, and generally good to excellent writing all around. Each scenario is firmly rooted in history and entirely logical alternate decisions, and each ends up in a very different set of circumstances, which are the two hallmarks of the best alternate history writing. My only complaint (aside from the map error detailed above) is that the editing is sub-par to say the least. There are numerous grammatical errors and incorrect word substitutions that can really break up the flow of the narrative. That said, they don't detract anywhere near enough to avoid reading this otherwise highly enjoyable collection.
Jake Mohlman

38 people found this helpful

Teamjj

Great "What if" Collection

23 July 2018 - Published on Amazon.com

Verified Purchase

Lots of "what if" tales of what might have happened if the US and USSR had gone at it hammer and tongs over Europe or Cuba

Amerigo Vespucci

Creative, but falls short

11 March 2004 - Published on Amazon.com

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

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.

8 people found this helpful

Kindle Customer

Enjoyable read

19 April 2014 - Published on Amazon.com

Verified Purchase

Enjoyable read, a bit dry except for the last story concerning "red lightning", that story by itself had me laughing. I guess I was hoping for a Tom Clancy equivalent, but this was a nice one.

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