Rating: 
Summary: The War in 2020--underrated and under appreciated
Review: This book is one of the best novels I have ever read. The WAR IN 2020 is an honest book which does not try to pull its punches.Despite some of the themes being dated (written in 1990; the USSR exists in 2020 (sort of) AND the Japan as the enemy), the book was one of the first to take a hard look at the end of the cold war and its effects on islamic fundamentalism and the chaos in Central Asia (a common thread throughout many of his novels.) It also looks at the peace dividend and how these so-called savings get deferred to the butcher's bill. The WAR in 2020 strikes a somber tone and does not come off with a triumphant flourish where the heroes get the medals and all the bad guys get theirs. The ending leaves you wondering what the [heck] everyone died for--unfortunately, it ends like most wars. Don't get me wrong, this book is an exciting novel with its fair share of action, but it does not cop out with a comic book ending that wraps up everything in a neat package. This is a military fiction novel for thinking adults. A Personal Commentary: Ralph Peters seems to me, an under appreciated author. He is not as popular as Tom Clancy (they both showed up in the mid 80s) but I find him to be a literary and philosophically superior author. I think that Ralph does not constantly the sales Clancy does because he does not go near the nationalism trap that Clancy has fallen into. I hope that he continues to write more novels.
Rating:
Summary: Finest military novel I've read
Review: This was Ralph Peter's second hardcover novel, and it was published at the very end of the Cold War, when a rising Japan appeared to be poised to be the next superpower and the USSR seemed ready to explode into internecine violence. Give Mr. Peters credit for batting .500, if you ignore his timeline. The War In 2020 turned out to be The War In 1999, and we have yet to see the end of it. My biggest complaint with the story is the description of the Army and Navy as being self-involved navel-gazers, immune to learning lessons from even the most catastrophic defeat, and leaving only the Army seriously devoted to the art of fighting and winning wars. Ironically, as this book hit the shelves in 1991, the Air Force was showing us over Iraq that it had taken the lessons of Vietnam to heart. But that complaint is trivial. Many of the characters are drawn from history, and any ugliness in them is less an issue of Mr. Peters' beliefs and attitudes and far more a reflection of just how ugly we can be when we put our minds to it. The action draws, interestingly enough, on then-Captain Peters' visions of what future warfighting might demand in the way of equipment, doctrine, and soldiers. (Read his articles in The Military Review from 1986 to 1988 for more details.) It is a thought-provoking look at "high-intensity" war in an era advanced communications and sensor technology. And, just like real wars, the book leaves you wondering why it all ended up the way it did. It may not be as aesthetically satisfying as the rousing victory with the Forces of Darkness banished from the world, but it is certainly far more realistic.
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