Mutiny: The True Events That Inspired The Hunt For Red October (Hardcover)

by Boris Gindin (Author), David Hagberg (Author) "In the fall of 1975 most of the crewmen of the Soviet antisubmarine warfare ship FFG Storozhevoy mutinied..." (more)
Key Phrases: fleet headquarters, marching engines, sonar compartment, Soviet Union, United States, Captain Potulniy (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Prolific thriller writer Hagberg (Dance with the Dragon) and former Soviet naval officer Gindin recount the 1975 mutiny aboard the FFG Storozhevoy, a Russian antisubmarine warfare ship, which inspired Tom Clancy's international bestseller. Gindin was a senior lieutenant and chief engineer on the Storozhevoy when it was seized by Capt. Third Rank Valery Sablin. An idealist who actually believes the Party line, Sablin intended to sail the ship into the Baltic Sea and broadcast an appeal to the Russian people to overthrow the corrupt Kremlin leadership. He secured the crew's support by promising them an early out from the navy, and arrested the captain and the ship's officers, including Gindin, who refused to cooperate. Upon hearing the news, Kremlin leader Leonid Brezhnev ordered his navy to find that ship and sink it. Under attack, the mutiny fizzled and the ship and crew were spared, but the personal repercussions were severe. Another nonfiction account of the Storozhevoy mutiny, The Last Sentry, was published in 2005, but the eyewitness testimony of coauthor Gindin justifies a retelling. Unfortunately, tutorials on subjects as diverse as historical mutinies and Soviet executions slow the narrative, and the documentation is bare bones. (May)
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From Booklist
The granddaddy of the techno-thriller, Tom Clancy’s The Hunt for Red October (1984), was based on a real mutiny of a Soviet warship in 1975. The definitive account of that event is The Last Sentry (2005), by Gregory D. Young and Nate Braden; here novelist Hagberg grafts the memories of a Soviet naval officer who was aboard the warship onto the thriller format. Then in his early twenties, Boris Gindin was the engineering officer of the Storozhevoi, an antisubmarine vessel whose name means “sentry.” Gindin was not disaffected with the Soviet system, opposed the mutiny, and was locked up with other loyalty-minded officers for the revolt’s brief duration. Its leader intended to sail into the Baltic Sea and broadcast an anti-Soviet manifesto, pirate-radio style. Readers not privy to the history will be surprised by the leader’s identity, and once those cards are on the table, Hagberg switches over to the thriller framework of admirals ordering pilots to sink the Storozhevoi. Although it is evident that creative license has been taken, the underlying truth of Gindin’s story comes through in Hagberg’s dramatized rendition. --Gilbert Taylor

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Forge Books (May 13, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765313502
• ISBN-13: 978-0765313508
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #271,782 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Ineresting, but ..., June 27, 2008

By	Bruce Trinque (Amston, CT United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

"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.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A good read, but a few factual issues, June 9, 2008

By	Glenn "The Journalist" (California) - See all my reviews

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.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Third rate fiction, June 30, 2008

By	Master Chief Submarines (Alexandria, VA) - See all my reviews

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.