Space Wars [Mass Market Paperback]

Michael J. Coumatos (Author), William B. Scott (Author), William J. Birnes (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 30, 2008

Michael Coumatos is a former U.S. Navy test pilot, U.S. Space Command director of war gaming, and a National Security Council counterterrorism advisor.  William Scott is a retired Rocky Mountain bureau chief for Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine and a former U.S. Air Force flight-test engineer, who served with the National Security Agency and as aircrew on nuclear-sampling missions.  These renowned experts have joined forces to grippingly depict how the first hours of World War III might play out in the year 2010.

Coumatos and Scott take the reader inside U.S. Strategic Command, where top military commanders, space-company executives, and U.S. intelligence experts are conducting a DEADSATS II wargame, exploring how the loss of critical satellites could lead to nuclear war. The players don’t know that the war they are gaming has already begun,  miles above them in the lifeless, silent cold of space. Jam-packed with the actual systems and secret technologies the United States has or will soon field to protect its space assets, Space Wars describes a near-future nuclear nightmare that terrorists will relish but politicians prefer to ignore. In a quieter, more peaceful time, Space Wars would be an exciting work of fiction. But with the United States now at war, Space Wars is all too real.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Former navy flier and wargamer Coumatos joins forces with former air force aviation engineer William Scott and lawyer William J. Birnes, who probably did most of the writing, to produce this engrossing piece of military futurism. They assume that in 2010 relatively advanced antispace weapons come into the hands of radical Islamic jihadists, who launch them against the West's space infrastructure of manned orbital facilities and reconnaissance, weather, observation, and communications satellites. Failure to anticipate this sort of attack means that it frequently isn't possible to tell a satellite that is under attack from one that is malfunctioning for more normal reasons. In Coumatos and company's scenario, the results prove dire for Western intelligence, communications, and finances, and the West's space-based capabilities sustain major damage. The book has an awful-warning quality to it that recalls the days of the cold war missile gap, but as space weaponry grows cheaper and more accessible, it also presages real possibilities. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

“A wake-up call for Western society.  Space Wars should be mandatory reading for politicians, policy makers, businessmen, lawyers, and students.”--Maj. Gen. Wilbert D. Pearson, U.S. Air Force (ret.), vice president of Lockheed Martin

“Space Wars is a book that can be read as a thriller, as a call to arms or a fictionalized exploration of the world of wargaming and space security.  In any sense, though, it’s an original.”--Defense Technology International

“Unless we are willing to accept the fact that there are some out there who are fanatically bent on destroying us, Space Wars could be profoundly prophetic.”--Capt. Eugene Cernan, U.S. Navy (ret.), pilot for Gemini 9, Apollo 10, and commander of Apollo 17

“The hair on your neck will rise as you absorb the latent danger facing the United States as revealed in Space Wars.  The utterly believable, totally logical premise is terrifying, and the book should be made required reading by Congress.  As Space Wars makes clear, we are on the edge of a low-tech catastrophe that will wipe out our high-tech advantages.”--Col. Walter J. Boyne, U.S. Air Force (ret.), New York Times bestselling author of Supersonic Thunder

“Space Wars is a realistic, often startling behind-the-scenes account of military space strategies and the mounting geopolitical threats in our world today.  It will leave you gazing toward space with a new understanding of the great battlefield just beyond our hemisphere and the critical role it plays in the future of mankind.”--Lt. Governor Jane Norton, State of Colorado, delegate to the Aerospace States Association

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books; First Edition edition (September 30, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765359006
• ISBN-13: 978-0765359001
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,397,650 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #27 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Science > Astronomy > Aeronautics & Astronautics

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome, May 4, 2011

By 

Jtruzman - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Space Wars: The First Six Hours of World War III (Hardcover)

I could not stop reading this book! Heard the author on Coast To Coast AM radio show. Bought the book and cannot tell you how pleased I am that I did.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Space Wars, January 21, 2010

By 

Raymond A. Fox - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Space Wars: The First Six Hours of World War III (Hardcover)

A great read - Even though the book is fiction you'll gain some insight re: US security systems - hardware/software/their operations, how other countries interact with US (esp Iran) and a wake-up call for Western society. This should be read by all U.S. Citizens...especially the politicians

11 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dale Brown Orbits the Earth, May 7, 2007

By 

Lawrence L. Thompson (Atlanta, GA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Space Wars: The First Six Hours of World War III (Hardcover)

This engaging read so reminded me of Dale Brown's series that began with Flight of the Old Dog and has continued to entertain for the better part of 20 years. Evil forces threaten the United States and equipped with the latest in secret high tech stuff the United States Air Force rides to the rescue. That we have moved into low orbit and near space is only a sign of where technology is now and where conflict may well be in the near future.

The book is clearly intended to warn about (and stimulate congressional funding of countermeasures to) the risks that destruction of our low orbit satellites could pose to U.S. commercial and military superiority. The book clearly succeeds in this objective, even if it is a little preachy at times. And, it points up the naivete of those who believe that near space will never become a battlefield because there are no (admitted) weapons there yet.

The new element this book contributes to its genre is to introduce wargaming as a technique for developing strategies in ongoing conflict situations. Wargaming has been around a long time, and has played a significant role in developing strategies in previous conflicts (see e.g. the winning side in the Franco-Prussian War). Unfortunately, we do not learn enough about the ongoing game in this book, other than statements attributing various nifty ideas to the players in the game. More information about the game and its course would have made this a five star.