Customer Reviews

Rings of Supersonic Steel: Air Defenses of the United States Army 1950-1974 - An Introductory History and Site Guide

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Being a child of the '50's, this new edition really hits home. My buddies and I would spend hours hiding in the woods behind the local Nike Ajax base and marvel at the sleek white missles on their launch rails, wondering if they would ever have to be launched. Once in a great while, our dads would drive us past the Hercules base about 25 miles south. At the time we had no idea that they were carrying nuclear warheads! Most of us are still intrigued about these missile bases, and Morgan and Berhow have done remarkable research on EVERY single U.S. Nike site, even down to street names and current condition. A must-have for anyone even remotely interested in air defense in the cold-war era.

First off, in the interest of full disclosure, I am the brother of one of the authors. Getting that by us, you will not find a better book out there on the subject of the Army's NIKE Ajax, Hercules and Zeus SAM systems. This one contains system descriptions, drawings, maps, unit specifics and the locations of every NIKE SAM site in the United States as well as discussions of other similar missiles, including BOMARC and Air Force TALOS. This book is a gold mine of information for those interested in Cold War history or for anyone who wants to know more about these nuclear-tipped missiles that used to surround our major cities.

Anyone who worked with the NIKE Ajax and NIKE Hercules air defense missile systems will enjoy this book. Also, anyone who is interested in this vital aspect of Cold War History will find much valuable information here. One of the best reference books on the subject that I know of.

The second edition of Rings of Supersonic Steel is a great book for the Cold War era enthusiast. The Nike series of air-defense missile sites are found throughout the United States. Growing up in the Los Angeles area, I spent many hours with friends hiking to various abandoned military sites near the beach and in the mountains. I wish I had this book then!! Full of maps, diagrams, photos, and technical information, the book is a perfect fit in my military history library.

A very informative reference book for those interested in the history of the Cold War era and the follow-on efforts that remain in effect.

This book, along with US Strategic and Defensive Missile Systems 1950-2005 authored by Mark Berhow, can answer many questions for not only historians, but also for those who might have lived near some of these Cold War facilities without understanding what was there, nor why they were there.

This book is an excellent history of a nearly forgotten footnote to the Cold War - recommended reading for anyone interested in military history or who is unaware of how warm the cold war actually was.

Very good book with a lot of infomation on the last line of defence of
the United States. Most people didn't know we had a missle defense system.
I grew up next to a Nike Hercules site and had 2 brothers that worked a
site.

This book is a gold mine for those who, like myself, are interested in air defense of military installations and major urban areas. These great interceptors were near the end of the line by the time I came along, so a book like this is a wonderful look back to what defending America looked like. And maybe, just maybe, if we had those rings of supersonic steel in place in 2001, we would've averted the tragedies that changed our world forever.

I highly recommend this book, from the historical and technical aspects of its content. It's not light reading, but man is it informative!

The subtitle of the book is a good reflection of its content and should be kept in mind by a potential purchaser. The body of this book is 40 pages long. That is followed by 136 pages of detailed information on all the United States Army air defense sites. The body of the book contains a very basic discussion of America's missile air defense from the end of World War II to the Anti-Ballistic Missile era. During this time frame, the major threat was Soviet bombers, not supersonic InterContinental Ballistic Missiles. An entire generation of defensive missiles was developed to counter this threat, but they all were retired when the threat changed. Included in this discussion are the Nike Ajax, Nike Hercules, Nike Zeus (two versions), Bomarc, Hawk, Talos, Terrier, Spartan, Sprint, Sentinal, and Safeguard (the latter ones extending into the ABM era) and the radars that supported them and the sites that held them. This is a lot of ground to cover in just 40 pages, so all that is given is a basic overview. For someone wanting to learn from scratch what this portion of the Cold War was all about, the 40 page body of the book is a very-basic beginning point. For someone interested in a high level of detail about specific missile defense sites, the 136 page appendix contains information that would eventually have been lost by the government if the authors had not taken the time to compile it here. This book does not contain the middle ground, however. Another source or sources will be required if the reader wants to do anything more than scratch the surface of the various missile defense systems. For example, To Defend and Deter: The Legacy of the United States Cold War Missile Program, by John C. Lonnquest and David S. Winkler is an unclassified product of the Department of Defense and, as of the writing of this review, is out of print but is available for free on the internet. To Defend and Deter is both broader and deeper than Rings of Supersonic Steel and covers not only the defensive missile program but the offensive missile program.

The third edition, which is many pages longer and costs $ 24.00, is a better
buy. Many new photos, excellent diagrams and a full collection, in color, of
Anti-Aircraft insignia gets you more for your money.