Inside the Soviet Army / Viktor Suvorov.

The problem with people like Alex from Russia (Well folks...) is that they are automatically dismissive and outright hostile toward anything written by their countrymen who have "left the fold" so to speak, that is even slightly critical of the now defunct Soviet system in any way. Even men like Andrei Sakharov whose motives are above reproach receive similar treatment from the "Alex's" of the world, the same old tired refrain, "Suvorov... is a liar" and that's it... with absolutely no facts to back up their shrill assertions, it's unfortunate, but predictable. Suvorov's "Inside The Soviet Army" and the companion "Inside Soviet Military Intelligence" are excellent examples of an insiders view of the complex machinations of the Soviet military and political systems, well written, factual, and a fine addition to any library. Highly recommended in spite of the baseless accusations of a few people.

"Inside the Soviet Army" is essentially the insights of a former Soviet GRU (military intelligence) officer (and former tank commander) who defected to the West in the 1970s or thereabouts. It is an attempt by the author to tell the uninitiated what the basic nature and philosophy of the (former) Soviet Army was comprised of. As such, this is a fascinating look at the innards of an Army that is very different from the US or any Western army. When I was an Army officer I could not put this book down, and I must have re-read it at least a dozen times. To me the most fascinating thing about this book, and indeed about the Soviet Army, was the fact that the Soviet Army is organized, as Tom Clancy once put it, along the lines of "organized chaos." Essentially, the senior enlisted men control the junior enlisted men, who they dominate and force to do all of the work. The officers put up with this (with the threat of mass punishment as their tool to get compliance out of the enlisted men) out of necessity. The hazing by the senior soldiers of the new soldiers is brutal, and is a recognized problem in Russian society to this day. (The "League of Russian Mothers" has emerged as a force in Russia to exert political pressure to reform this problem.) Sergeants? They have them, but most of the jobs done by professional NCOs in most Western armies are done either by officers or by the senior enlisted--the Soviet Army had no professional NCO corps. If I stray into the present tense it is because the present Russian Army, by all reports, is organized much the same as the former Soviet Army, although it is trying to reform from being a mass army of barely-trained conscripts into a more professional army featuring more highly-trained soldiers and officers. Another insight that Suvorov brings out is that Soviet Army officers were subject to many of the same bureacratic restrictions and hamperings as Western officers--training quotas without fuel to achieve them, interference from higher headquarters over discipline of soldiers, etc. The Soviet Army was (and the Russian Army still is) plagued by many of the same problems as its Western adversaries, and the Soviets were not ten feet tall. Some of Suvorov's conclusions are controversial, as other reviewers have noted, but in the main this book rings true, and seems to be a reasonable, if not totally objective, view of what the Soviet Army of the 1970s was like. Such insights were hard to come by then, and are now. That, combined with Suvorov's engaging writing style and obvious intelligence, makes this book merit each of its five stars.

If you thought that the western armies were the King of all armies then read this "inside the soviet army". Your mind would change....forever. Concerned about the peace of the world? Then read this book, it has all the terrifying facts about how the Soviet army operates in the heat of battle and how they organise their armies during peace. This book i guarantee, would change your mind about the Soviets. A great read!!

The book is a very important read for anyone interested in the soviet union, the books title says it the soviet army (really he means armed forces) but it is gives you a understanding of the soviet rulers and their style and paranoia. It is a good book and you will learn a lot about the soviet military and government.

If you ever wanted know about the soviet military I recommend this book to anybody. It talks about the tactics & strategy and mind set of the soviet military and government.I think it is important for anyone to read because it should exactly how dangerous it the situation could have been.