The new 'Hunt for Red October' by an ex-Deputy SACEUR
British retired General Sir Richard Shirreff, an ex-Deputy SACEUR, has taken up the pen and has caused a stir with his book, '2017:War With Russia'.
Mixed UK reviews:https://www.amazon.co.uk/2017-War-Ru...chard+shirreff
It appears Amazon.com has used some of the UK reviews:https://www.amazon.co.uk/2017-War-Ru...chard+shirreff
The book sets up a doomsday scenario in which, to avoid encirclement by NATO, Russia seizes territory in Eastern Ukraine so as to open up a land corridor to Crimea. It then invades the Baltic states, triggering a war with the West in 2017. Almost sounds familiar.:wry:
I doubt this passage in the preface has endeared him to UK officialdom:
Quote:
A country famous for once ‘walking softly and carrying a big stick’… now had a leadership that shouted loudly but, thanks to ongoing defence cuts, carried an increasingly tiny and impotent stick.
Link:http://www.independent.co.uk/news/wo...-a7035141.html
An academic reviewer writes:
Quote:
It is fiction of the Tom Clancy variety: a thriller with a warning, informed by intimate inside knowledge.
Link:https://theconversation.com/we-need-to-listen-to-our-military-experts-and-that-includes-retired-generals-60259?
Another academic writes:
Quote:
The Atlantic security community is in danger of sleepwalking into war. The very talk of such a conflict “normalises” the possibility.
Link:https://theconversation.com/west-cou...-wake-up-59936
A less hostile, but critical reviewer:
Quote:
Shirreff’s book, however, is a far more overtly political piece, and is deeply critical of the West’s reduced defence spending and its unwillingness – and inability – to stand up to the Russian threat. At first sight, this appears a persuasive case, but on reflection is perhaps slightly less so.
Link:https://theconversation.com/could-na...f-it-did-59694
Personally I will not be purchasing the book.
