The War That Never Was

If you enjoy History channel shows like Dog Fights or Battle of ____ Then you will deffinitly enjoy this book. Clearly not written to be a typical novel, character development isn't as important in a historical work. Written like a history book with everything from actual units and ships to quotes from the men and woman on both sides it is very insightful. It was very strange reading about the battles and seeing echos of WWII stories and yet it is 1990. No matter how much technology improves, war is always the same. I read it as a historical fiction and enjoyed it very much. Worth the money I spent on it.

The War That Never Was details a technically deep story of a Third World War based on a 1989 scenario. Most action takes place outside of Europe, in places that books like Red Storm Rising and Ralph Peters' Red Army ignore. Technically deep, it covers individual ship actions, but not overwhelmingly so. Some technical passages require two readings to be completely understood, and don't expect in-depth characterization, as the war itself seems to be functioning as a character, with the different theatres of war functioning as parts of its "personality." Naval actions are predominant, with air battles second, and land action confined to a few pages. The Abrams on the front cover is misleading. Do not expect an in depth order of battle for divisions in Germany. I found the development of the war to be plausible, albeit a little to heavily favored to the American viewpoint. I would have appreciated it if a few more things had gone against the NATO forces... the dice seemed to come up with sixes for NATO a few too many times, and that did take away from the story slightly. The structure of the book, with the authors going through each theatre individually from start to finish is slightly annoying, as the author follows the action in one area from the war's start to finish, then moves to another region and does it again, from start to finish. There is little or no action between theatres, which is possible for a war lasting less than a month, but doesn't make for a very captivating story.Despite these faults, the overall story is worth reading, and I'd suggest buying it if it can be found used. I've seen several copies at used book stores, and it's worth spending a couple of bucks on.

I read the hardcover version of this book from a number of years ago(found hidden in Nimitz Library among many other weathered hardcovers), and thought about how much of a pity it was that it didn't sell better. It is the best "what-if" novel of how the Cold War could have become a global war. It concentrates on the naval aspect of the global conflict, and in the late 80s to early 90s that would have determined the victor in such a war. The author has many insights into how the war could be won in that theatre (and others) and does not get too bogged down with heavy prose or battle descriptions that are not fluid (a fault that "WWIII" has). This novel is a must have for fans of this genre, but as mentioned above "WWIII" and "Red Army" are also written by people who know what they are talking about, so they too have a careful eye for accuracy. I cannot say the same about "Red Storm Rising," though... it was written at about the 5th grade reading level by someone who had little knowledge of the subject.

"The war that never was" stands out as a work of art, and, IMHO, is superior to Red Storm Rising, Red Army, Team Yankee, and the Third World War, august 1985. The book reads somewhat like RSR, but has an infinitely more realistic quality about it. Both sides make mistakes (yes, americans screw up), and both sides suffer defeats (and not just some minor-NATO country losing an unimportant battle). The global politics are carefully examined, and play a major role as neutral countries are approached by both USSR and NATO to join their cause. In many small instances, these prove decisive. Countries such as Libya, Japan, Iran, Egypt, India, Vietnam, Finnland and Sweden are forced to make decisions, weighing whether or not they should join the war, and if so, who to side with? If the book has a single deficiency, its a lack of ground combat in germany. The german front is the single most important of the war, yet it is painfully neglected. about 2/3 of the 360 page book is centred around naval combat (including naval oriented air and ground ops:i.e. marines). Of the last third, most of the ground battles take place in the balkans, north africa and scandinavia. Some in Korea and Germany, but not enough. In my opinion, an additional 100 or so pages should have been added to more closely examine the first 7 days of the war in germany, which is merely summarized.However, the book is still the best that i've ever read on the topic of a hypothitical third world war, aided by 20/20 hindsite that was available. Like i said, there is a lot, maybe too much naval action, but it is still exellent action! it keeps you hooked through out the novel, which left me wanting more as i finished!

I thought this book was very well done,similar in detail to Red Storm Rising in its portrayal of the war in sea,air and land.I would recommend it to others interested in what-if fiction as well as those in WW3.