Uncovering Soviet Disasters: Exploring the Limits of Glasnost [Hardcover]

James E Oberg (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Among the Soviet disasters covered here are munitions-plant explosions, subway fires, anthrax contamination and nuclear-reactor meltdowns. The survey is wide-ranging; material on civilian airline crashes, for instance, makes it clear that air-safety standards in Russia are low. Oberg (Red Star in Orbit) explores the Soviet government's deep-rooted insistence on secrecy, showing that in the matter of technological safety precautions crucial information has been withheld from the West: he demonstrates that certain accidents that have occurred in the Soviet Union have been needlessly repeated in the West because preventive measures have not been shared. Oberg is cautiously hopeful about the effect of glasnost on the exchange of technological information: "Once (and if) this trend matures, we can settle down to the serious business of learning from each other's mistakes as well as from our own." Photos. Author tour.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Oberg, an aerospace engineer and observer of USSR space and military activities, has written an eye-opening expose of about 250 Soviet disasters. Treated in surprising detail, given the secrecy of Russian governments, they include events on land (hotel fires, nuclear accidents), in the air (civilian and military crashes), at sea (ship rammings, nuclear sub disasters), and in outer space. The usual Soviet response has been silence and denial, even at the expense of lives. Oberg's many sources included Soviet emigres, slips of Soviet tongues and pens, and CIA reports. Without gloating, Oberg gives us a glimpse of the limits of Soviet technology. Highly recommended. Daniel LaRossa, Connetquot P.L., Bohemia, N.Y.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 335 pages
• Publisher: Random House; First Edition edition (February 12, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0394560957
• ISBN-13: 978-0394560953
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,296,041 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Old news but still relevant, January 16, 2007

By 

Harry Eagar (Maui) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Uncovering Soviet Disasters: Exploring the Limits of Glasnost (Hardcover)

At the time this book was published, in 1988, it was an amusing and telling example of how much (or how little) could be deduced by forensic techniques from a putatively closed society. As such, it remains of interest in the 21st century, where there are still putatively closed regimes (Saudi Arabia, Iran, North Korea) that are rightly suspected of being up to mischief.
By 1988, had a long record of uncovering mysteries in the Soviet Union, especially in their space program. His biggest coup was revealing the existence of "missing cosmonauts."
That tale was retold here, along with a fascinating retrieval of unreported news stories about mayhem in all walks of Soviet life. Some remain controversial, at least in benighted quarters, like the reactor failure at Chernobyl.
Oberg concluded that while glasnost was real, it had not penetrated the Soviet military. "Uncovering Soviet Disasters" covers the period through late 1988. Subsequently, some military circles in Russia became more open, but on the whole his judgment then is good now.
The importance of this to arms control is obvious. Oberg's book is valuable on this and several other levels. Not the least reason for reading it is that it's a good mystery.
But nobody who reads this book will ever fly on a Russian airliner.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good Sleuthing, But Some of it is Dated, October 26, 2001

By 

Reuterborg (Houston, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Uncovering Soviet Disasters: Exploring the Limits of Glasnost (Hardcover)

When this book was written in 1987-1988, many of these mysteries were totally unknown and likely to remain so. But the collapse of the USSR in 1991 opened its secret archives and in many cases (such as the 1979 anthrax epidemic in sverdlovsk) made some chapters obsolete. Others -- such as dead cosmonauts, or the Antarctic station disaster, or aviation catastrophes (including the Korean Airlines 007 shoot-down and other border attacks on lost airliners as well as military reconnaissance planes), or especially the treatment of nuclear disasters -- provide still-relevant and still-useful insights into what was really happening inside the Soviet Union and what it can teach us about safety in our own lives.

The book was well received at the time. Here are some examples.

"Oberg's book... fills gaps in our knowledge of recent Russian history. Well documented..., the book serves as a fine interim report on the effects of glasnost." NY Times -- also, EDITORS' CHOICE of "recent books of particular interest". "A remarkable job of detective work!" [Nick Daniloff]. "Highly recommended!" [Library Journal]. "A fascinating exploration... written with the flair of a detective novelist" [American Library Association's BOOKLIST]. "A clear, relaxed, journalistic style... (which) makes for extremely interesting and entertaining reading" [National Review]. "A crackerjack book!", Barry Farber, WMCA, New York. "Dogged is the word that fits Oberg.... He leaves no page unturned. It is a motherlode of material and Oberg is adept at separating probable fact from probable fiction. This accretion of detail gives the book credibility" [WASHINGTON POST]. "(A) fantastic book! Oberg's an incredible supersleuth... It beats any thriller or whodunit you might see on cable TV. Don't miss this one." [Petr Beckmann, ACCESS TO ENERGY]. "When Oberg delves deep into issues, his research is admirable." LOS ANGELES TIMES. "A fascinating book that reads like a fine detective novel." SOVIET AEROSPACE (Washington, DC). "An attempt to recreate events in their reality.... Understandably, the majority of these facts didn't find exposition in the Soviet media, especially before perestroika.... Silence, life shows us, forces us to repeat terrible mistakes. The unlearned lesson is a new armed landmine. Oberg argues: nobody can long succeed at keeping truth hidden. Information one way or another seeps out, it finds a way. But it's important that this occur more quickly." Ivan Illesh, in IZVESTIYA, p.6, "Kak Eto Bylo (How It Was)", Moscow, Nov 13, 1989.

That last review was particularly impressive, since it was from the former newspaper of the Soviet communist party, then reformed by glasnost, and reporting approvingly of Oberg's attempt to get the full truth out.

You can visit the author's home page at
www.jamesoberg.com
to see what else he's writing along these lines.

6 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, June 13, 2000

By 

Brian Callahan "aceaceaceace" (Huntington, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Uncovering Soviet Disasters: Exploring the Limits of Glasnost (Hardcover)

I read this book thinking that it would bring forth some evidence to prove that some of the rumored Soviet disasters were more than just urban legends. Instead, the book was just chapter after chapter of "An Unnamed source reported that an Unidentified plane (or boat or sub, etc.) crashed due to Uncertain causes at an Unknown location, killing an Undetermined number of fatalities." Then the logic is "We said it happened, they said it didn't. This proves they are liars and always have been." It was a shame, because many of the stories would have been potentially interesting if there was some evidence demonstrating what actually happened. Too many maybes, probablys and most likelys in this one. Also, I'm wondering why the author was surprised that the Soviets didn't publicize military disasters, especially one that disabled their defense system for a while. I'm not sure if we'd be putting that on the front page of the Times, either. At least not willingly. Anyway, I would rate this one as a real disappointment, especially because I had very high hopes for it.