Customer Reviews

The Kremlin's Nuclear Sword: The Rise and Fall of Russia's Strategic Nuclear Forces, 1945-2000

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Zaloga has done a masterful job of describing the internal politics that kept the Soviet program from achieving maximum efficiency in their arms race with the USA. Still, one has to admire the dogged determination the Soviets showed in this pursuit. He also updates the reader on the decrepit state of the post-Soviet arsenal today. That is even scarier than the past flirtation with Armageddon.

Steve Zaloga does an amazing job discussing a very diverse subject that covers the entire Cold War period between the US and USSR. He not only describes the Kremlin's nuclear weapons technology, but he delivers a history of the politics that inspired the development and deployment of the weapons. Zaloga's style is smooth and keeps the reader interested in the topic, and he manages to keep the reader from being bored while covering the often-times mundane details. I would highly recommend this book for use withing a graduate level history course.

Before I read this book (for a space history class at UND), I had only heard of Sergei Korolev and his work on the R-7 and Sputnik. My knowledge of the competing ICBMs was limited at best... but Mr. Zaloga's book widened my horizons immensely.

Anyone interested in the significant threat posed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War, and the weapons still aimed at the United States by the Russian Federation should read this book. Its written in a interesting way - not too historical, not too technical - from a very knowledgable source.

Kudos to Mr. Zaloga! (thanks for explaining who Chelomei was... ;-)

I found this book very easy to read and a well taught history of the soviet military nuclear power.

It describes the rise and fall of all the aspects of the soviet nuclear war machine, from the bomb itself, to the various delivery systems. It offers an outstanding insights into the decision making process of the soviet state machine.

It also describes the way soviets incorporated the post war german rocket engineering, to compare with american way (paperclip operation).

An excellent choice is the use of the soviet naming conventions and numbering. It also examines the SALT treaties and their genesis. The book is full of tables, pictures and easy data presentation. A lot of well documented tables are found in appendixes .

Worth buying and reading.