Read The Brink President Reagan and the Nuclear War Scare of 1983 Marc Ambinder 9781476760384 Books
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“An informative and often enthralling book…in the appealing style of Tom Clancy” (Kirkus Reviews) about the 1983 war game that triggered a tense, brittle period of nuclear brinkmanship between the United States and the former Soviet Union.
What happened in 1983 to make the Soviet Union so afraid of a potential nuclear strike from the United States that they sent mobile ICBMs (intercontinental ballistic missiles) into the field, placing them on a three-minute alert
Marc Ambinder explains the anxious period between the United States and the Soviet Union from 1982 to 1984, with the “Able Archer ’83” war game at the center of the tension. With astonishing and clarifying new details, he recounts the scary series of the close encounters that tested the limits of ordinary humans and powerful leaders alike. Ambinder provides a comprehensive and chilling account of the nuclear command and control process, from intelligence warnings to the composition of the nuclear codes themselves. And he affords glimpses into the secret world of a preemptive electronic attack that scared the Soviet Union into action. Ambinder’s account reads like a thriller, recounting the spy-versus-spy games that kept both countries—and the world—in check.
From geopolitics in Moscow and Washington, to sweat-caked soldiers fighting in the trenches of the Cold War, to high-stakes war games across NATO and the Warsaw Pact, “Ambinder’s account of a serious threat of global annihilation…is spellbinding…a masterpiece of recent history” (Publishers Weekly, starred review). The Brink serves as the definitive intelligence, nuclear, and national security history of one of the most precarious times in recent memory and “shows the consequences of nuclear buildups, sometimes-careless language, and nervous leaders. Now, more than ever, those consequences matter” (USA TODAY).
Read The Brink President Reagan and the Nuclear War Scare of 1983 Marc Ambinder 9781476760384 Books
"Marc Ambinder tells a tension packed Cold War story as to how the United States and the Soviet Union faced off against each during 1982-84 when war fears were at their height. He does this against the backdrop of the NATO “Able Archer 83†war game where the NATO forces were defending Germany against a Warsaw Pact invasion. He uses the war game exercise to bring in all of the command and control issues associated with a Soviet nuclear first strike down to the level of the local army commanders who control tactical nuclear weapons on the ground. He also brings in the role of spies on both sides trying to understand the intentions of their opponents. One of the best was Oleg Gordievsky who, before being betrayed, rose to be the KGB Rezidentura in London. Quite a coup for MI-6.
Recall those were the years where the Soviets deployed intermediate range nuclear missiles and NATO countered with its own deployment. The latter giving rise to Soviet supported anti-American demonstrations throughout Europe. In 1983 President Reagan delivered his “evil empire†speech by noting that the Soviet Union “was the focus of evil in the modern world†and shot down Korean Airline Flight 007 when it strayed into their air space. As an aside I thought contemporaneously the Reagan speech was one of his best. 1983 also brought with it the ABC movie “The Day After†which highlighted the impact of a nuclear attack on Kansas City. My wife and I watched it in horror.
I was pleased to see how well Ambinder treats President Reagan and Secretary of State George Schultz. Despite his Cold War rhetoric Reagan sought to understand Soviet motivations and brought in academics and read Russian history to get a sense as to why the Soviets would fear a first strike by the United States. All he needed was a partner and he finally got that partner with Michael Gorbachev.
Ambinder goes into a great deal of the United States’ command and control structure in the event of nuclear war. The logic of nuclear war practically dictated a first strike because the command and control after a nuclear strike would be chaotic. I wish he would have quoted that great geopolitical strategist, Mike Tyson, who said, “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face.†When reading about the procedures involving our nuclear codes, it scared the living daylights out of me to think that Donald Trump is anywhere near close to them.
My few criticisms of the book is that Ambinder should have given a chapter backdrop about the Soviet nuclear buildup during the 1970s and the legitimate fear it raised in the United States. He goes after what he calls “the nuclear priesthood†without going into real detail. Although he mentions the Pentagon’s Office of Net Assessment, nowhere in his book does mention the critical role played by its leader, Andrew Marshall. Those criticisms aside, Marc Ambinder has written a well-researched history where small miscalculations could have led to nuclear war."
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The Brink President Reagan and the Nuclear War Scare of 1983 Marc Ambinder 9781476760384 Books Reviews :
The Brink President Reagan and the Nuclear War Scare of 1983 Marc Ambinder 9781476760384 Books Reviews
- Marc Ambinder tells a tension packed Cold War story as to how the United States and the Soviet Union faced off against each during 1982-84 when war fears were at their height. He does this against the backdrop of the NATO “Able Archer 83†war game where the NATO forces were defending Germany against a Warsaw Pact invasion. He uses the war game exercise to bring in all of the command and control issues associated with a Soviet nuclear first strike down to the level of the local army commanders who control tactical nuclear weapons on the ground. He also brings in the role of spies on both sides trying to understand the intentions of their opponents. One of the best was Oleg Gordievsky who, before being betrayed, rose to be the KGB Rezidentura in London. Quite a coup for MI-6.
Recall those were the years where the Soviets deployed intermediate range nuclear missiles and NATO countered with its own deployment. The latter giving rise to Soviet supported anti-American demonstrations throughout Europe. In 1983 President Reagan delivered his “evil empire†speech by noting that the Soviet Union “was the focus of evil in the modern world†and shot down Korean Airline Flight 007 when it strayed into their air space. As an aside I thought contemporaneously the Reagan speech was one of his best. 1983 also brought with it the ABC movie “The Day After†which highlighted the impact of a nuclear attack on Kansas City. My wife and I watched it in horror.
I was pleased to see how well Ambinder treats President Reagan and Secretary of State George Schultz. Despite his Cold War rhetoric Reagan sought to understand Soviet motivations and brought in academics and read Russian history to get a sense as to why the Soviets would fear a first strike by the United States. All he needed was a partner and he finally got that partner with Michael Gorbachev.
Ambinder goes into a great deal of the United States’ command and control structure in the event of nuclear war. The logic of nuclear war practically dictated a first strike because the command and control after a nuclear strike would be chaotic. I wish he would have quoted that great geopolitical strategist, Mike Tyson, who said, “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face.†When reading about the procedures involving our nuclear codes, it scared the living daylights out of me to think that Donald Trump is anywhere near close to them.
My few criticisms of the book is that Ambinder should have given a chapter backdrop about the Soviet nuclear buildup during the 1970s and the legitimate fear it raised in the United States. He goes after what he calls “the nuclear priesthood†without going into real detail. Although he mentions the Pentagon’s Office of Net Assessment, nowhere in his book does mention the critical role played by its leader, Andrew Marshall. Those criticisms aside, Marc Ambinder has written a well-researched history where small miscalculations could have led to nuclear war. - And it shouldn't be. This is a book about how close we came to nuclear war or even just a mistaken nuclear launch in the 1980s. Tensions were as high as they had ever been during the Cold War, the Americans were rebuilding at a massive pace and the Soviets' probably genuinely believed President Reagan was capable of a decapitating first strike. All the while the Soviet Union was literally crumbling to pieces while the Soviet military was doing everything it could to keep the appearances of strength and parity. Under these circumstances, with literally just minutes to decide if an aging computer system accurately identified a nuclear launch, this book tells the story of how the world literally just missed a full-scale nuclear war. Great research and story-telling. Highly recommended!
- A well-told tale of a series of events which could have ended the world's existing civilizations, and so much more. The knowledge, experience, and guts of a Soviet missileer prevented what could well have been a nuclear holocaust. The portrayal of the lack of understanding of the intelligence services for the assumptions and mind sets of the subjects of their work was frightening, and I can only hope it is better now. Unfortunately, the editing of this book was less than mediocre, and worse was the coordination between the notes and bibliography.
- Soviet paranoia at its peak.Ironically,only a mole buried deep in Nato prevented a Russian preemptive strike against a nonexistent Nato attack.
- While generally an interesting read, I found the errors and proofing to be horrible. Many simple grammatical errors make reading difficult and inaccurate facts (e.g., reference in epilogue to 1979 Titan II Arkansas accident which actually occurred in September 1980) take away from what would otherwise be a good book and cause readers to question the accuracy of other facts presented.
- Exciting story. I was in high school when this was happening and now I’m glad I didn’t I might have been vaporized because of a misunderstanding.
There were several typos I noticed. - I wanted to read this book as I was an MP assigned to a classified munitions site (not nuclear weapons) in the 59th Ordnance Brigade from 1982-85. I'm not finished reading it yet but so far find the story interesting. I will admit, I was not aware of the near crisis while serving.
I do have some concerns about what information can be trusted as there seems to be...errors, shall we say...in some parts. What I have noticed so far is the author including Poland (Warsaw Pact country) in a list of allied countries, saying a submarine launched ballistic missile launched off the east coast could get to DC without being detected, a U.S. Army captain (O-3) making only $1000 a month (depending on length of service pay started at $1400+ and went up to $2300+ not including housing and meal allowance), identifying a C-130 as a "jet" (it's a four engine turbo prop cargo aircraft) and saying Army Rangers are "experts at building airfields" (they don't build them, they assault and capture them for use by follow on forces). This is not to mention the numerous sentences missing words to make them incomplete. I usually come across one or two such sentences in a book. This book is peppered with them.
I'll finish reading the book but with a jaded eye as with so many mistakes regarding such basic information it makes me question the accuracy of the rest. - Excellent!
