Customer Reviews

Mutiny

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

"Mutiny" by David Hagberg and Boris Gindin is the story of the real-life mutiny aboard the Soviet naval vessel Storoshevoy in 1975, an incident that sparked the creation of Tom Clancy's "The Hunt for Red October".

Gildin himself was an officer aboard the Storoshevoy, held prisoner by the mutineers, so a substantial portion of the book can be told from an eyewitness perspective, but nonetheless the story seemed to me to somehow lack the immediacy I would expect. For one thing, the lack of photographs and maps and ship's plans proves something of an obstacle in better envisioning what went on. And discussion of the aftermath of the failed mutiny is curiously lacking in detais. I was left feeling that I had read only half a story.

As advertised, this book is a suspense-filled thriller. David Hagberg's fiction skills are clearly evident. But as for non-fiction, he must be clairvoyant in his ability to discern the thoughts of those people who neither he nor his co-author either inteviewed or knew. The inner thoughts of CPSU and Soviet Naval leaders in Moscow provide a good story, but I am not sure that they are accurate.
Small details are in error, but most are insignificant and would probably only be known to a Soviet Naval expert. However, His co-author should be just that expert. For example, the book details that the destroyer was parked next to an Alpha class submarine in Riga, the day of the mutiny in 1975. The first Alpha was cut in half in 1974; the second in the class did not appear until 1979. In the definitive account of the mutiny, "The Last Sentry: The True Story that Inspired the Hunt for Red October", the adjacent sub was from the Foxtrot class.
The book does provide an interesting insight in to one man's view of the mutiny and the crew of the mutinous ship, but since he was incarcerated during most of the mutiny, even his account is often less than eyewitness. Buy the book, judge for yourself.

I had high hopes for 'Mutiny' but ended up extremely disappointed. This may be explained as it's the author's first foray into non-fiction. He seems to rely on a single authoritative source -- LT Gindin, but he fantasizes the dialogue in the patrol and attack aircraft cockpits, in the Kremlin, and on the bridge of the Storozhevoy. Indeed, there were times when I though I was reading the movie script for 'Hunt for Red October;' e.g., James Earl Jones, 'Mother of God!,' Defense Minister Grechko, 'Dear God!' Did the author interview any of these pilots or the surviving crew members? If so, it would have been useful to document that in the acknowledgments.

With regard to credible sources; Wikipedia? My kids are in high school and they are not allowed to use Wikipedia. I hammer the undergraduates I teach by telling them they will get a failing grade if they cite Wikipedia or and other dubious on-line source in a term paper. How did this author get published?

In early 1976 I was at sea in a submarine whe I heard the story of the Storozhevoy. It's an important story that deserves much better treatment. For Mr. Hagberg, please stick with fiction, you're good at that.

In November 1975, Soviet anti-nuclear submarine frigate FFG Storozhevoy is docked in Riga, Latvia for normal maintenance and repair after six months at sea. Third in command Captain Valery Sablin is appalled by the wide corruption of leading Brezhnev officials and much of the bureaucracy overrun by party hacks including Soviet navy brass. He sees fat cats taking shortcuts with the lives of sailors to pocket money and obtains the best items for themselves and their family. Outraged as only a true believer can be, the Marxist/Leninist fundamentalist decides to take control of the vessel and sail to Leningrad where he would broadcast to the people to overthrown the corrupted. All went well with his plan until the Kremlin learned what he was doing and interceded.

This is the real events of the Soviet naval mutiny that led to the novel and movie The Hunt for Red October as related to novelist David Hagberg by then twenty-four years old Senior Lieutenant Gindin, who was part of the crew. The back ground of naval life in the totalitarian superpower is fascinating and well written while setting the stage for the exciting look at the events that happened in late 1975. Although nonfiction and told mostly by the viewpoint of Mr. Gindin though much supported by documentation, Mutiny is a tense thriller that grips readers from start to finish even with knowing the outcome.

Harriet Klausner

Master Chief Submarines (who also gave this book but one star) hits the nail on the head -- or the book where it hurts. It is hard to imagine that any editor would allow this pseudo historical piece be published without more thorough and tighter editing. The direct quotations as envisioned in the Hagberg's obviously talented ability for fictional thrillers are almost a travesty.

As a former naval person, also in submarines, I find it incredible that the sole naval technical editing was apparently provided only by the Russian sub-author -- who, unfortunately, was not allowed a very heavy hand in this very necessary process to produce a credible text. The almost slang-like and often needless analyses of the USSR government, military and naval processes, economic and sociological problems, ad infinitum, all but insult one's intelligence and add neither to the narrative nor to the knowledge of the reader, especially given pathetically meagre bibliography and its caliber (again -- see Master Chief's scathing denunciation of using Wikipedia so freely).

I am so sorry to see this fascinating event so poorly presented. I do hope that David Hagberg returns to adding to his many fictional techno-thrillers and Boris Gindin can find a truly competent co-author to try this again!

Being a Cold War amateur historian, translator, and writer myself, and after having not just read but DEVOURED the first account written about the mutiny aboard the Storozhevoy, "The Last Sentry", obviously I was expecting much more from "Mutiny", since it was co-authored by someone who was actually there. However, after reading and reading what to me was nothing more than a mostly fictionalized account of the events, I simply closed the book and placed it back in my bookshelf. "Mutiny" gives just the account of one man, Boris Gindin, that was most of the time locked when the events happened. If you want Cold War thrills, read "The Hunt for Red October". If you want to read about the events that led to the Storozhevoy mutiny, the event itself, and its aftermath, then read The Last Sentry: The True Story that Inspired The Hunt for Red October. At least its authors went to Russia and interviewed some of the surviving sailors that took part in the event. As for the author of "Mutiny", he should stick to write fiction. He seems to be very good at that.

This most memorable novel, a true story that inspired The Hunt for Red October., held my interest like almost no other. I have been out of the (United States) Navy for over 28 years, never having actually served on a ship, but reading the book made me want to go to sea, I could actually feel myself aboard a ship traveling out to the open water. I remembered fondly just how beautiful the Baltic Sea was when I first saw it back in 1997.

I guess another reason I found the book so interesting was the author's vivid description of life in the Soviet Union during the Cold War and just how passionate and fearless (or foolish) one would have to have been to even think about leading a mutiny on a Sovet warship. Contary to what some previous reviewers wrote, I think the author was very explicit at describing what the punishment for dissent (of any kind)was in the Sovet Union. Whereas the public may be all too familiar with the murder of 6 million Jews under the Nazis too few even think about the 40 million men, women and children who were exiled, starved, beaten and murdered often by their own Russian breathen. The book describes how horrible it was living in a society where fear, intimidation and control were the order of the day. I myself am the daughter of Lithuanian refugees who left their native country in 1944 when Soviet tanks rolled through Lithuania and the deportation of thousands of Lithuanian citizens to far reaches of the Sovet Union began. The author describes the climate in which the mutiny was set with great detail. It is tragic that in the end the mutiny did not succeed, the political officer who launched it "got his 9mm" (in the back of the head, a punishment millions were condemned to) and even those who had nothing to do with the mutiny were subject to the harshest of punishments.

This is the true story of a mutiny on a Sovet frigate in 1975 off the coast of Riga, Latvia. It is also, however, about so much more. In an era where many take for granted the freedoms that are afforded to them living in the United States of America, this would be highly recommended reading.

I know Boris & Yana Gindins as good friends & very descent people. From the moment we met in Stamford, CT I've heard about incredible events, that Boris relieved in the Soviet Navy many decades ago. And finally the book "Mutiny" was published & the true story of mutiny on the board of Soviet Military Ship "Storozhevoj" was told. Obviously I took great interest in it since I knew Gindins personally & I also lived in the Soviet Union during Cold War & Iron Curtain Era until 1980, when me & all my family immigrated to United States. We as Gindins been given American Citizenship as jewish refugees from Communist Regime. But unlike Boris Gindin, nobody in my family served in Soviet Naval Fleet as an officer and nobody had similar experience of the Mutiny on the board of military ship, and especially during times, when KGB & Soviet Communist Regime was still in full swing. So not being in literary profession, being actually an construction engineer myself, I can fully appreciate the whole storyline of this book. Though it is my opinion, that the book was written for everage person, born & raised in the West & not having any experience living in a "closed" society, deprived of any democtaric values. I think, that the big advantage of the book is exactly this, creating the "big picture" of the life in the Soviet Union, the life of an everage person in opposite to the life of military Naval Officer, with much greater prospects for the future. The background of whole country is shown, the structure of "Chain of the Command" from top to rhe bottom, the limitless power of KGB, the fear of common people, the GULAG, the punishment of the innocent, the Communist propoganda, etc. And then the actual story of Mutiny of politruk Sablin on the board of military ship is described in great detail.
You can see the situation with Boris Gindin's eyes, who witnessed those dramatic events, whos life was in danger along with his comrades and the captain of the ship "Storozhevoj" - Potulniy. Also I want to comment that just the way book is written is well thought over, each chapter has a meaningfull title & actually is pretty short and up to a point and easy to follow. This style is working well, keeping you well informed, on the "edge of your seat", grasping your attention thru the whole course of events, described in the book.
So all in all I would recommend this book to read to people of different backgrounds, to all people who are interested in history & military.

For those, who like me, want to learn history through the telling of dramatic stories, you cannot go wrong with Mutiny: The Inside Story of the True Events that Inspired the Hunt for Red October. David Hagberg, an award winning writer with an intelligence background and Boris Gindin, a former Soviet officer who had served aboard the Storozhevoy, the frigate that was hijacked in November 1975, tell the story of the mutiny by building literary portraits of the people involved; from the ship's taciturn but fair commander, Captain Second Rank Anatoly Potulniy; to Seaman Alexander Shein, the hapless farm boy who embraced the mutiny without having really considered the consequences; to Captain Third Rank Valery Sablin, the ship's political officer and the architect of the plot; to Admiral of the Fleet Sergei Gorshkov, the ruthlessly pragmatic senior officer who had been charged with crushing the revolt.

As the story unfolds, Captain Sablin is presented as a committed Communist, a true believer in the purity, goodness, and justice of Marxist-Leninist doctrines. He is, for all practical purposes, a fundamentalist - a preacher who adheres to Das Capital as his inerrant holy book. He is not, by any stretch, a doctrinal demagogue. Indeed, just the opposite. He is an idealist who inalterably believes in the egalitarian benevolence of Socialism. He is a good man. A humanist. And over time, he has become repulsed and disillusioned by what he sees as the corruption and malfeasance permeating the regime of Leonid Brezhnev's government. To Sablin, Brezhnev is poison to the continued existence and preservation of the Motherland.

To put the country back on track, Sablin decides to seize the Storozhevoy, which has been moored in the Bay of Riga to participate in ceremonies commemorating the October Revolution, and to sail the ship to Leningrad where he plans to broadcast a prepared speech, fully believing that a massive, cathartic public outcry will result. People would be compelled to act. The country, Sablin reasoned, would overwhelmingly correct course back to the original Communist ideals and justice would be restored. He is, tragically, that sure of himself and his country. What follows, as the plot had been discovered in its infancy, is an intense chase as Sablin attempts to race the Storozhevoy to its destination.

This is a story that has everything; from the reactions of the Royal Swedish Navy who had electronically monitored the Storozhevoy's flight in a desperate attempt to determine whether or not a Soviet naval attack was imminent; to the refusal of Soviet naval aviators who in a state of confusion, declined to follow orders to sink the ship; to the air force bomber pilots who carried out an attack in order to bring the incident to an end. It is a tense, gripping, and exciting story that is told in such a fashion that the event leaps to life through the pages of the book. No small accomplishment for any writer.

Mutiny succeeds in doing what it was apparently intended to do. It tells the story through the perspective of Warrant Officer Gindin, the ship's engineering officer, an individual who refused to participate in Sablin's scheme. A good companion would be The Last Sentry by Gregory Young and Nate Braden. The Last Sentry is a straightforward history; almost a biography of Captain Sablin, rather than the telling of a dramatic story. That book presents a number of interesting primary sources, such as an entire transcript of Sablin's intended speech and the KGB investigative report, as appendices. But for the sheer excitement of the story, Mutiny cannot be beat.

This is the gripping tale of the mutiny aboard the Soviet Baltic Fleet destroyer Storozhevoy.
Astonishing incident reveals some of the brittleness of the Soviet Union's totalitarian.
Throughout the book we see how masterfully tied the unfolding drama with history. The propaganda state is on the brink of meeting its demise.
This book tells the story by describing a mutiny that was organized by an idealistic political officer looking for a public platform to denounce the corruption of the Brezhnev regime and it's a story of an ambitious young officer who believed the 'party line' and followed his orders, saving lives of his crew members, and at the end was betrayed by his government and punished unjustly. This is a first hand account of a historic event that shook the world but has never been revealed until now.
Mutiny is a wonderful work of literature. It's a suspenseful book made all the more interesting because it is a true story. It is a book worth reading