Blind Man's Bluff

Rating:
Summary: Amazing!
Review: This book gives incredible insight into submarine espionage and naval history during the Cold War. Many of the stories I would never believe unless I knew they were true. Not only that, but it's fantastically interesting. The topics range from political motivations to the human perspective to the technical. The entire book is a page-turner!

Rating:
Summary: An Informative and Exciting Book
Review: This work can be approached from several angles. It's certainly a major contribution on the history of US and Soviet intelligence operations. Submarines have been (and still are) key components in the areas of espionage and intelligence. Yet their role has never been discussed or explored before in the way this book does.
The book is also useful in the history of US and Soviet cold war diplomacy and strategic policy. The book also provides insight as to the role submarines played in some of the most famous events in the cold war, such as the Cuban missle crisis.
In addition, the book reads like a great spy thriller or adventure book. Passages describing the atmosphere in a sub as it's being depth-charged, or narrating the escape from a damaged vessel during a storm on the high seas, are riveting.

Rating:
Summary: The Cold War Heat's up in these amazing (true) tales.
Review: I am a part-time sub-a-holic and when I saw this novel I just could NOT resist it. I have never served in the military so I am far from an authoratative voice on anything to do with the Navy and it's underwater exploits during the Cold War...however I KNOW what I like, and this book has as much intrigue and tension as ANY fiction novel that attempts to run silent and deep.

Ever since Clancy opened my eyes with 'The Hunt for Red October' I have been interested in reading more about nuclear submarines or subs in general...how they work, what it takes to shadow an enemy sub for hundreds if not thousands of miles all without being detected. The drama that oozes from the pages of this book can be cut with a knife. More hair-raising tales are still out there but due to national security, we won't be reading about them anytime soon, so in the meantime, crack open this thriller that has enough chills for any half-dozen fictional thrillers combined.

It absolutely rivited me at some of the REAL life-threatening missions that took place during the cold war. Our underwater military should be given one amazing pat on the back for enduring such a game all in the name of protecting our boarders.
Some of the stories read like tall tales, which is exactly what makes them even more amazing. Evading Russian ships that dropped depth charges on an American sub...attaching sophisticated listening devices on Russian telephone lines right under their NOSES...locating and retrieving an honest-to-goodness thermonuclear bomb that the Air Force 'accidentally' dropped in the Mediterranean...attempting to raise a sunken Russian submarine in the Pacific...the speculation on how America lost the Thresher and the Scorpion...these stories and much more await you within the pages of this historical account of our unsung heros of the deep. If you find Michael DiMercurio or Tom Clancy to be facinating reading, do yourself a HUGE favor and grab this thriller...as they say, Truth IS stranger than fiction, and this novel PROVES it. All I can say is my hat's off to ALL members of the Navy's Sub Force, especially those who were portrayed within the pages of 'Blind Man's Bluff'.

Rating:
Summary: From a submariner- I can't believe they got people to talk!
Review: Blind Man's Bluff is an incredibly accurate(!) account of submarine espionage and warfare preceding and during the Cold War. I was a part of that great tradition and was amazed how meticulously researched this book was. I gained both a higher understanding and a bit of (dis?)respect for how our government works... granted, its not perfect, but it gets the job done!
Some may say the book was sensationalized and glamorized a bit,...!
... Moreover, I'm proud ... that many of these stories reached publication, which otherwise might have remained "Silent" forever.
My only gripe with the book is that there were not more enlisted personalities involved, for 'we' comprise 85% of the ships company, and 100% of the crew. "We" only 'punctuated' stories in the context of heroic rescues, actions that saved sinking boats, lives given trying to save shipmates, Chiefs who rightly saw death, and of course, some GREAT drinking anecdotes! This book really shows how our efforts had tangible implications upon National Policy.
I went to this book's official webpage with this concern, and received a satisfactory reply from none other than Chris Drew (Co-author). I was satisfied with his reply. We are silent.
"Blind Man's Bluff" is a prose work, ...
Its gripping, and smooth reading compared to most historical nonfiction. If you want literature, read Hemingway. If you want realistic looking submarine drama, read Clancy. If you want the 'mind blowing' real deal, read "Blind Man's Bluff."

Rating:
Summary: why can't they just read us this in history class?
Review: If you are another one of the millions of teenagers who see history as the most boring, dull and pointless thing in the world, this will change your mind. It is all true stories and happenings ... made interesting. I was skeptical of reading this at first because it sounded like another dull nonfiction book. But I was held to it and it kept my attention.

It's like an adventure novel only the most exciting thing is that it's all true.

But it's less than perfect because you could get quickly bored with it. There are some chapters that seem like they are nothing more than the author describing the submarines. But of course most chapters are like the first ... exciting and unreal. This time of history we always seem to skip or skim through in history class. I don't know why, because it holds a lot of interesting things you would never believe.

Rating:
Summary: A Tour Album
Review: This was very dissapointing. I expected a reality based novel, but it turned out to be a highly expanded tour book of sorts for the USN Submariners. A forced attempt at dropping as many names as possible so that they may take their due place on stage. Obvious bait for Hollywood.
Lacks depth or any serious literary skill. Feels like one long newspaper interview. Especially lacking was mention of the moral aspects of having one's finger on the trigger of a doom's day machine. Hard to believe this never occupied any of the thoughts of the men and women manning these marvels of technology and dispensers of indiscriminant destruction. So little mention was actually made of the real hero that enabled these brave men to navigate with such ease in the endless oceans of our planet: 20th Century science and engineering.

Rating:
Summary: A bit sensatationalized but worth reading
Review: "Blind Man's Bluff," is a fast and easy read about the submarine espionage tactics used during the Cold War. Most of the stories are on American subs but in the latest edition, an Appendix contains a few brief Soviet items that the authors recently uncovered.
Among the subjects covered are: submarine disasters, underwater collisions, undersea wire tapping on Soviet cables, the attempt by the Glomar Explorer to lift a sunken Soviet sub off the sea bottom, and many, many introductions to key Naval Intelligence officers and sub captains. Essentially, it's every story the government tried to keep classified during the Cold War. The authors came across the information by searching declassified documents and interviewing former Navy employees.
Anyone interested in covert military operations, the Cold War, naval operations or Tom Clancy fans will immensely enjoy this book. But even for the casual, meandering reader who doesn't concentrate his reading time on a single topic, Blind Man's Bluff will still be quite enjoyable.
It's so reader-friendly that most people will fly right through this book. And that's partly why I give it only four stars. In parts, it gets a little too sensationalized and too-Clancy for my liking. As an avid history reader, I concentrate on facts and information in texts and at times, BMB bogs down in dialogue and excessive melodrama. Instead of being informative it often becomes very narrative which isn't all bad depending on your reading tastes.
Sontag and the other authors did a great service in writing this book to the courageous men of this country who defended our borders by serving in the 'Silent Service.' Many of the vets have never been able to tell their story to relatives because of an oath of secrecy. Finally, their stories are told. Thank you veterans as well as current military personal for keeping American freedom safe!

- If you're lucky, you may be able to catch an hour-long segment of "History Undercover" on the History Channel devoted to this book. They replay it every couple of months so check your TV listings or the web site.

Rating:
Summary: Nice Overview of Submarine History....
Review: I'm not a real Naval guy, but a friend recommended this book and I'm glad he did.

Gives a nice, generalized, history of Submarines focusing on the espionoge aspect. Well written and laid out chronological, so it builds upon itself.

I learned quite a bit from reading this book and will now answer several more 'Jeopardy' questions on any topic related to submarines.

Rating:
Summary: Cold War era submariners deserve a major salute!
Review: My uncle worked for several years with the submarine fleet in the U.S. Navy, and when pressed by my cousins about what he did, he simply provided them with this book. Very few individuals can imagine what our submarines did during the Cold War that compares to the exploits written about here.

Who could imagine the intelligence coups that were reaped? Who could believe the cat and mouse games played hundreds of feet below the surface of the water? So many stories of potentially war-starting issues make this amazing book one to keep, and pass on to others. My hat is truly off to the members of our silent serivce.

Rating:
Summary: Not only a submarine book
Review: This book not only tought me a lot of things about modern submarine warfare, it was also - and perhaps mostly - greatly illumaniting about the cold war strategy and dangers.