Rating: 
Summary: An Amazing Book by an Amazing Man.
Review: Not only does Waller take us into the submarine but he takes us into the minds of the crewmen as well. 'Big Red' is genius! Never before has the world of a submariner been brought to so much light and sounded so exciting. This book is a fascinating study of these machines and their necessity in the post-cold war world.Thanks Doug Waller you've done it again.
Rating: 
Summary: A complete disappointment
Review: There is just not much to say about this book other than it stinks. The book claims to be about 3 months aboard a nuclear submarine but the author really was only on there for 1 week. Many pages were filled with giving us the backgrounds of the sailors and every african american on board. The author certainly made sure his political viewpoints were revealed. Very superficial, very very superficial. I wish I could get my money back. I guess I should of known what it would be like as the writer is a writer from Time Magazine.
Rating:
Summary: A fascinating read
Review: This book was recommended to me by a friend and not something I would normally chose. However, I was surprised by how quickly I became deeply engrossed in the book. I was most impressed by the effective balance between technical information and character development that the author achieves. The fearsome size and massive nuclear power of the sub is kept in perspective through reflection on the submariners' very human feelings and attitudes. The book is written in an attractive style that combines detailed analysis of operations with a certain wit, humor and irony. I found myself laughing out loud several times. This book provides a fascinating glimpse into a world which is bigger and more complex than most of us could ever imagine. A compelling, intriguing read for men and women!
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing...
Review: Very short on meat. Very long on way too much contrived drama. It wasn't so bad as to make me stop reading, but it wasn't so good that I'd seek out this author again.
Rating:
Summary: AN ACCOMPLISHED READING OF AN AMAZING BOOK
Review: Veteran stage and screen actor Len Cariou is studied perfection in this reading of "Big Red," a spellbinding recount of 90 days on board a Trident nuclear submarine. A Tony Award-winner for his performance in Broadway's "Sweeney Todd," Cariou masters both inflection and emphasis in this true-to-life tale.Author Douglas C. Waller who penned The Commandos was granted access to one of our military's best kept secrets - a Trident nuclear submarine equipped with 24 strategic missiles and over 120 nuclear warheads. He was on board the USS Nebraska for a three month patrol through the Atlantic Ocean. While we are at peace, Tridents are primed to launch a nuclear apocalypse should the President order them to do so. Waller reveals the protocol for starting World War III, and enters the lives of those who man the world's deadliest weapons. The diplomatic correspondent for Time magazine, Waller tells an amazing story, and Len Cariou reads it to a T.
Rating:
Summary: AN ACCOMPLISHED READING OF AN AMAZING BOOK
Review: Veteran stage and screen actor Len Cariou is studied perfection in this reading of "Big Red," a spellbinding recount of 90 days on board a Trident nuclear submarine. A Tony Award-winner for his performance in Broadway's "Sweeney Todd," Cariou masters both inflection and emphasis in this true-to-life tale. Author Douglas C. Waller who penned The Commandos was granted access to one of our military's best kept secrets - a Trident nuclear submarine equipped with 24 strategic missiles and over 120 nuclear warheads. He was on board the USS Nebraska for a three month patrol through the Atlantic Ocean. While we are at peace, Tridents are primed to launch a nuclear apocalypse should the President order them to do so. Waller reveals the protocol for starting World War III, and enters the lives of those who man the world's deadliest weapons. The diplomatic correspondent for Time magazine, Waller tells an amazing story, and Len Cariou reads it to a T.
Rating:
Summary: Once again a great book!
Review: Waller has done it again. I was a big fan of his previous boook "Commando's", and was not dissapointed one bit in this book. The book gives the reader tons of info about life on the Nebraska, while showing the human side of the men who operate this deadly weapon. Only Bowden (Black Hawk Down), and Waller can show our present day Armed Forces as real people, who give up so much in the name of their Country. This book was a very quick and enjoyable read, it puts some much needed fact in an area that has so much fiction.
Rating: 
Summary: Big Red is a good read and accomplishes the author's goals.
Review: We live in different worlds. Each of us has a particular job, with its own rules, social proceedures, its' rising stars and falling heros. Unfortunately, we tend to think that our world, whether its the media, the medical profession, teaching, civil service, or driving a truck, as being THE world. We see ourselves, and the world around us, from our jobs outward. Our own limited perpectives on life circumscribes how we see and understand everything else. This book is about a world far different, and more dangerous, than what most of us face day by day. While we go about our daily lives, hundreds of thousands of men and women around the world are busy with a radically different task, protecting our nation's perceived interests by standing ready for military action. It is this world, as seen through the eyes of submariners, that Waller allows us to visit and, to a degree, literally submerse ourselves in. As far as this goes, this is a good, useful, well written and interesting book. We get little glimpses of the personal side of the men on the USS Nebraska and the sacrifices they and their families make to Navy service. We also see how the world looks to people coming from varied backgrounds. One man's menial job on a submarine is another man's ticket to stability and a regular paycheck, another's ride to a college education, another's chance for a life of meaningful employment. Through the course of the book, we come to understand a good deal about these men and why they do what they do. Unlike a good novel, however, characters are introduced, sketched and then disappear. Only a few seem to merit treatment throughout the book. Just as with the deep, dark nuclear secrets of the submarine, we don't get to go too deeply into the personal side of their lives. There are limits. To get access, Waller obviously had to respect both the secrecy of the sub and a also apply a certain amount of restraint in protraying the lives of the men. As one rather potentially embarrassing example, we are given no hint of how men of normal sexual energies deal with three months of physical isolation from their wives and girlfriends. Nor do we learn anything about what those in the Navy call "shipboard homosexuals", those who "compromise" while at sea. Well, we already get too much information from other sources, anyway, so it is just as well that Waller left these matters mostly unmentioned. The endless playacting and drilling of military life aboard a submarine can't help but seem silly, even wasteful. But then again, many things the military does outside of warfare seem that way, until the real bullets start flying. I can easily see, however, that drills can become annoying, repetitive and even counterprodductive at times. Waller raises, but does not answer, the question of why the submarines are at full, cold war-time alert when the Soviet Union has collapsed in on itself. Good question, no answer. I come away with the book with an added respect for the hard work, dedication and sophistication necessary to keep these complex fighting machines in running order. I do not claim much depth of understanding, based on the book, on why subs are so difficult and complex. (Anything that could launch a nuclear warhead on a missle from deep underwater has to be considered rather amazing, on the face of it.) I agree with those who suggest that Waller should have fessed up about how much of the three month tour he actually endured. Other reviewers have made much of the factual errors in the book. I say: so what? There are bound to be mistakes when an untrained person takes on a highly technical topic. This book is not aimed at those who have served on board subs. Are there errors that call into question the ligitimacy of the book and the writer? I couldn't find any. It is an informative, enjoyable read, one that can help those of us who will never go onboard a sub understand what is being done for our country and in our name. To that extent, this is a great book.
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