NationStates Jolt Archive

I have just finished this book, and I must say I really enjoyed it. I was wondering how others felt about it. It certainly shows what I think would have happened in a 1980's conventional WWIII. The only serious problem I found in the book was the lack of detail about the progression of the campaign. It mentions many points, but never concludes them (what is happening in Norway? What about the Battle for Hamburg, British and German forces are mentioned grinding the Soviets to a halt, but surely more fighting occurred). Clancy also doesn't seem able to convey the land war as great as he can the Naval side (and for the time it's there, the Air War), though Iceland partially makes up for this.

Soundsl like something I would interested in. Thanks for sharing.

Yeah, I can't quite remember how it goes, cause it's been a while since I read it, but I remember I liked it.

The ending threw me for a bit of a loop though.

I haven't read it in ages. Huge Clancy fan - thanks for reminding me how long it's been since I read it. Going to go grab my copy and put in the 'to be reread' stack.

And on another note, what the hell happened to all the other Warsaw Pact nations, only the Soviets are mentioned. Ok, since it started as a USSR-German problem, I suppose it can be assumed that only the Soviets are fighting, but once all of NATO (ok, except Greece) was involved, surely Eastern bloc nations would have joined the Soviets.

Yeah, I can't quite remember how it goes, cause it's been a while since I read it, but I remember I liked it.

The ending threw me for a bit of a loop though.

As a refesher and for anyone who hasn't read the book (no spoilers), the Soviets lose a huge oil production facility to terrorists, and to keep their economy from collapsing (or being brought to the whim of the West by relying on them for oil while it is rebuilt), they hatch a plan to invade the Persian Gulf and secure that oil. But they first must get NATO out of the way, and while I won't say how they plan to do this, it leads to a general USSR-NATO War in Germany, involving far flung battles in Central Germany, Iceland, and the Atlantic, the Barents Sea, along with political intrigue in Moscow.

And on another note, what the hell happened to all the other Warsaw Pact nations, only the Soviets are mentioned. Ok, since it started as a USSR-German problem, I suppose it can be assumed that only the Soviets are fighting, but once all of NATO (ok, except Greece) was involved, surely Eastern bloc nations would have joined the Soviets.
You have to remember that the vast majority of Warsaw pact nations outside the USSR were little more than satellites to serve as a buffer, their troops were almost always defensive and rarely had tanks.

Let's not forget the times that it was Soviet troops, not local forces who put down protests.

Very good book. I own it and have read it several times over. About the lack of ground war coverage, if you read the note in the front of the book, he says that he is most interested in the naval war to being with. The addition of the missle threat is very interesting and not something that I had heard of anywhere else.

About the Warsaw Pact, I really doubt that the Soviets trust them very much to do any fighting. After all, they didn't trust a lot of their own republics (Lithuania, Ukraine, etc.) so I don't see why this is much of a problem.

I have just finished this book, and I must say I really enjoyed it. I was wondering how others felt about it. It certainly shows what I think would have happened in a 1980's conventional WWIII. The only serious problem I found in the book was the lack of detail about the progression of the campaign. It mentions many points, but never concludes them (what is happening in Norway? What about the Battle for Hamburg, British and German forces are mentioned grinding the Soviets to a halt, but surely more fighting occurred). Clancy also doesn't seem able to convey the land war as great as he can the Naval side (and for the time it's there, the Air War), though Iceland partially makes up for this.

if you liked that one...than find

The War that Never Was (I will give you the author and publishing date tomorrow)

and

The Red Army (Ralph Peters is the writer)

both are excellent

Also suggest The Third World War by Sir John Hackett.