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Most of all, the book reminds us of the sailor's individual and self-sacrificial integrity. Sadly, i cannot list myself as having been directly involved as many who have commented on this book have.
most are decent or if i dare say good, but this book is great. I have now picked up a few books on the subject after reading this book.
What i most liked; buried within a very macro version of some of the accounts, the book never strays too far from the emotions that are involved inside a submarine and out. in my eyes, it correctly portrayed the atmosphere of the era along with the attitudes from the lowest to highest members involved.
It described the many perils, risks, mishaps, emotions, and triumphs of being a submariner during a turbulent time. i can say that this book was very informative, thorough, clear, and just.
my hearts go out to those that put their life on the line (today and in days past).
We certainly pushed the envelope of our spying and crossed the line on several occasions, but we won. In 1984, Tom Clancy published his famous book The Hunt for Red October. Blind Man's Bluff is the true to life stories of the heros of the "Silent Service" the submariners who travel far, deep, quiet but also have to keep silent about what they do. The authors tell of the successes, the failures, the politics, the morality of our spying objectively and factually. A very worthwhile read for anyone interested in the Cold War, Spying, US Naval operations from 1945-1998. The exploits of these sailors is exciting, this book reads like a novel.
Now declassified operations that involved tapping Soviet phones, trying to recover Soviet crashed subs, stalking subs, the "Crazy Ivan" moves you find in Clancy's work is true. It was a brilliant work of fiction, and close enough to the truth that CIA and Navy types worried there might be a leak somewhere. And he who wins gets to write the history. To say these sailors had guts would be an understatement. There are maps, diagrams of subs, photos that help tell these fascinating tales of underwater bravery. The Soviets spied on us as well, we just out did them and took more risks.
There is a section on the Soviet perspective of the submarine operations which is very interesting as well.
We may never know to what extend everything in the book is correct, maybe sometimes a bit of imagination was added to the reality, but in any case the book provides extremely interesting point of view on recent history. The book correctly mentions bravery and challenges of rank and file seamen, who sometimes had limited idea about wider implications of their actions, despite taking enormous risks for their country.
Full of fascinating tales of Cold War espionage as it played out underseas. Very interesting and informative. I definitely recommend this book.
I'm half-way through this book and I'm really enjoying it. Great for military history buffs.
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