Rating: 
Summary: Great, but incomplete
Review: "Blind Man's Bluff" tells of an aspect of the history of the nuclear submarine navy that was probably accepted by many, but not sufficiently appreciated: the history of nuclear subs as spy ships, silent spies enmeshed in cold-war enigmas. Until I read "Blind", my perception of military subs has been one of deterrence - training for a never green-lighted nuclear mission. Even subs not armed with city-smashing ICBM's were purpose-built for WWIII: whether those armed with crude cruise-missiles that preceded the age of ICBM armed subs, or when newer attack submarines subs took to sea, to hunt down Soviet subs armed to the teeth with missiles. Sontag & Drew tell a tale of a undersea warfare that was anything but stalled by mutual deterrence, detailing the submarine as an active agent of espionage. From the end of WWII until today, subs relied on ever evolving technologies to allow them to silently enter the coastal redoubts of the Soviet Union and gather intelligence. Between the tenacity of their crews and the somewhat trouble-prone technology available, our subs tapped into "secure" Soviet communications lines, located the wreck of a Red Navy missile sub that sank (under mysterious circumstances) in the Pacific in 1968, and generally tailed and catalogued every soviet sub they could find. Tailing Russian subs proves to be the true challenge. Under water, submarines are located and tracked using sound - whether by the sounds they emit, or by being echo-ranged by a hunter. Every "class" of subs (a class refers to a generation of a kind of submarine, like a new class of missile-carrying sub, or hunter-killer sub) proves to have its own distinct "signature" - a sort of sonar fingerprint (sounds contributing to this fingerprint include emissions related to propeller movement and - in the case of nukes - the steam plants and pump machinery of their reactors). Thus, finding a hitherto unknown class of sub, getting close enough to establish its signature, and tailing it long enough to verify the signature are critical if fellow submariners are to be able to intercept the enemy in war situations. Drew and Sontag chillingly tell of both the pressure to locate and classify new soviet subs, and the hazards involved. Far from an exact science, the ambiguities of undersea navigation and the unpredictable affects that the oceans have on sonar equipment combined with the unpredictable behavior of Russian crews enhances the hazards of this cat-and-mouse game, leading to frequent collisions. Because all subs suffer a blind spot behind them, Submarine commanders frequently make abrupt course reversals - swapping stern for bow - never knowing if a pursuer is too close behind to compensate. ("Bluff" details a 1980's collision between a Soviet cruise-missile carrier and the USS Tautog, one that the Americans initially thought fatal to the Russians; the Russians blamed the Americans for the 1968 sinking of their missile sub in the Pacific, likely believing that a collision occurred.) Unfortunately, this history of an intelligence war that lasted for about half-a-century seems incomplete. "Blind Man's Bluff" actually groups together many stories - some probably deserving their own book - in a sort of "Right Stuff" narrative that lacks a central theme. In "Stuff", it was the race to beat the Russians to the Moon. Though that book stopped short of the lunar landings, Wolfe made his point once his astronauts and scientists matured enough to make the moonshots an inevitable American triumph. Unlike the history of spaceflight, dominate by historical moments that connect America to the moon, the obvious milestones of submarine technology (nuclear power and the torpedo-shaped submarine hull) fall midway, while other historic points (loss and discovery of the attack sub USS Scorpion and the CIA's semi-successful efforts to raise a sunken Russian sub) seem anti-climactic and disconnected. Between these historic points, there are many good stories (some I've never heard of, others I have, but seem better treated here) that remain insufficiently connected by a well-defined theme or by historically recurring characters as Wolfe had in "Stuff". Figures like Sergey Gorshkov (The Soviet Navy's widely acknowledged architect), Hyman Rickover (the so-called "Father of the Nuclear Navy") and John Craven recur throughout the book, but the author's don't account for how these men or others shaped the mission of today's navy. Instead, the details and people of the stories recounted in "Bluff" seem to go little farther than their own stories. We learn the history of the troubled Mk 37 Torpedo only as a possible explanation for the Scorpion disaster. Similarly, the hurried and incomplete planning that sent Scorpion to sea when it needed overhaul - exacerbating unsafe conditions thought endemic only to Russian subs - are unconnected to historic trends showing improved or decreased reliance on equipment, training, morale or logistics. Most glaring of all, the story seems to exclude the Russian side, except to confirm a few facts that Americans didn't know. While "Bluff" seems to tell the story of submarine espionage, it's not clear if the Americans were unique in using subs for spying or if the Soviets, who had the biggest nuclear powered fleet in the world, are still holding their secrets. Sontag and Drew hint at the offensive strategies of the Red Navy but never rule out whether Russian subs tried to match the USN in espionage. We know that the Soviets relied on the Walkers and turncoats like Aldrich Ames, but have not learned how. Also, the illegal technology transfers by Toshiba and Konigsberg get little shrift here. Sontag and Drew make sub-hunting such an impossible chore, that you begin to wonder whether the Russians were bridging the gap in sub-technology as reported in the late 1980's, or whether such advances were historically typical. While America is the acknowledged cold-war victor, if Russian submarine history is as truly opaque as "Bluff" allows, then it is the Russians who merit the accolades. As in WWII, the ultimate measure of success in submarine warfare is silence.
Rating: 
Summary: Fasinating tales of our submariners
Review: The cold war was most fierce in the hidden realm of the deep, where the occurance of any incident could be denied by governments and remain hidden from public view. Well-written stories from the earliest submarines to the end of the cold war. I most enjoyed the story of secret undersea cable-tapping operations.
Rating:
Summary: Scary stuff you may never have known happened
Review: With the ending of the cold war and those who gallantly fought it mostly in retirement or deceased, stories about the role that submarines played in dettering World War 3 can now be told. The book touches on several incidents in which subs were used clandestinly for national security such as the hunt for a missing H-bomb, sunken subs USS Thresher and USS Scorpion and a sunken Soviet missle sub near the Hawaiian Islands. Tapping Soviet communications cables and the development of the first sub-based ballistic missle, the Polaris are also explained in as much detail national security clearances will allow. There are some stories however that may not have been completely truthful, as the people interviewed later made note of, particularly Dr. John Craven who worked on several of the projects mentioned. Overall, the book was an eye-opener. Even folks who don't read books on like subjects should get a kick out of this book.
Rating:
Summary: Very Interesting
Review: This book was very interesting. Its hard to believe what can happen without the genereal public having any knowledge (and all of it under water!) The stories are all during the cold war up to the early 1990's. If you are into post war WWII espionage & like submarines, you should enjoy this book.
Rating:
Summary: secret operations???
Review: Sure, our government does not conduct secret operations. Never...
Try reading this book. I would never consider the Navy, but for some reason this book intrigued me. Covert operations, intelligence gathering, the political games played by all sides. The <I>Glomar Explorer</i>, special modified submarines and mini-subs, the Nixon & Clinton Administrations. The true life story's of of heroes, spies, slimy politicians and military leadership. The show on the Discovery channel covering this book did not come close to everything in the book; only skimming the surface. The show does not do the book justice, IMHO. A bit novel-like, a bit documentary, but overall a good book. I would recommend to anyone who is interested in Military, intelligence, submarines & navy operations, and the secret actions & operations of our government. It should definitely open your mind. I happened to come across this book about a year ago, in a book exchange at a neighborhood center we were having a meeting in. I grabbed it, thinking it looked interesting - and I was right on the money! Ironic; because we have it in the collection at the library where I work.
Rating:
Summary: Beneath the blue curtain
Review: As a former Navy man, I have always been fascinated by the lives of my brethren who spent their careers beneath the waves. I never knew just how much clandestine activities occupied their time until reading this book. Of all of the military history books I've ever read, this one was the biggest eye-opener. The book details the story of the submarine in the U.S. Navy for the duration of the Cold War. It picks up shortly after WWII with some of the very first "spy" subs and it carries thru all the way to the end of the standoff in the early 1990s. The book is filled with detailed information (much of it only recently declassified) on submarine trackings, submarine sinkings, underwater collisions, cable wire-tappings and much more. One of the best features of the work is that it explores the risks and exploits of the submarine force from the personal, military, political, legal, scientific and ethical realms. We are not only offered the stories of these sailors' accomplishments, but we're also given a snapshot of who these brave men are / were. Anecdotes are plentiful and are inclusive of everyone from the legendary Hyman Rickover all the way down to the lowliest E-1s. This book is a must for all military history buffs - particularly navy / submarine aficionados. It's well written, difficult to set down and is a wonderful introduction to the cloak-and-dagger world of submarine surveillance and espionage. If you want to know what REALLY happens beneath the blue curtain, then this is the book for you!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent lesson in espionage
Review: I found this book extremely interesting, and a pleasant surprise. I was fascinated to read about some of the achievements and daring stories that the US submarine force has undertaken over the years. I would highly recomment this to anyone interested in good war stories.
Rating:
Summary: Gave me a hint of what I missed
Review: I was a Communications Technician in the navy during the cold war (65-68) and was shore duty stationed in Puerto Rico. Near the end of my active duty I was offered the opportunity to do a "900 trip" which meant I would ship out on a submarine. CT's were also known as "spooks", and I was one of them. I opted not to go ("never volunteer", remember?) but after reading this book, wish to all get-out that I'd gone. I loved every page of this book, and also as a result of reading it, found out about a vererans organization called the "Naval Cryptologic Veterans's Association", to which I now belong. So not only did I love the book, but it opened up a new connection to my "spook" past.
Rating:
Summary: Truly impressive secret Cold War sub history
Review: I first heard about this book from my uncle, a retired admiral and submariner. He told me about hinding out the book was being written, and then he supplied it to my cousins so that he could give them some idea of what he had been up to during the Cold War. He didn't actually tell them a lot himself, but what little told me also was EXTREMELY intriguing. People really have so little idea of the amazing things that were going on in different areas during the Cold War. Blind Mans Bluff goes back to the very early days and relates some early adventures, and moves us forward to the end of the Cold War with mind-blowing examples throughout. Through interviews with American and Soviet submariners and their families, this book was hard to believe, and harder still to put down. The History Channel used the book as a basis for a prime-time documentary, and although it didn't relate all of the examples used in the book, it still left us shaking our heads and what was actually going on while we were blissfully unaware. For an exciting and unusual reading selection about the Cold War, and some people who have been very good at remaining silent about their extraordinary service, this book would do the trick.
Rating:
Summary: Much better than a TDU weight
Review: I like the effort put forth by the authors given source material constraints, but anyone who served knows that only the 'surface' was scratched. "Bluff" is a good overview with enough details about specific espionage operations to keep the reader interested. There simply isn't enough room in a single book to cover all of the engineering, communications, navigation, weapons systems, sonar, radar, analysis, etc. for those wishing for more nuts and bolts. But far more important than the technology were the skill and dedication of the crews, and this book does not give enough depth or credit to the enlisted men that stood the watches and maintained the gear that supported stick rider and spook operations. Sometimes their only reward was periscope liberty and a lawyer with divorce papers waiting at the pier.
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