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Able Archer 83: The Secret History of the NATO Exercise That Almost Triggered Nuclear War Hardcover – November 1, 2016

by Nate Jones (Editor)

25 customer reviews

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In November 1983, Soviet nuclear forces went on high alert. After months nervously watching increasingly assertive NATO military posturing, Soviet intelligence agencies in Western Europe received flash telegrams reporting alarming activity on U.S. bases. In response, the Soviets began planning for a countdown to a nuclear first strike by NATO on Eastern Europe. And then Able Archer 83, a vast NATO war game exercise that modeled a Soviet attack on NATO allies, ended.

What the West didn’t know at the time was that the Soviets thought Operation Able Archer 83 was real and were actively preparing for a surprise missile attack from NATO. This close scrape with Armageddon was largely unknown until last October when the U.S. government released a ninety-four-page presidential analysis of Able Archer that the National Security Archive had spent over a decade trying to declassify. Able Archer 83 is based upon more than a thousand pages of declassified documents that archive staffer Nate Jones has pried loose from several U.S. government agencies and British archives, as well as from formerly classified Soviet Politburo and KGB files, vividly recreating the atmosphere that nearly unleashed nuclear war.

Able Archer 83: The Secret History of the NATO Exercise That Almost Triggered Nuclear War

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Editorial Reviews

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Praise for Able Archer 83:
"Twenty-one years after the Cuban Missile Crisis, a NATO exercise, Able Archer 83, came terrifyingly close to precipitating an accidental nuclear war. Nate Jones’s brilliantly researched and gripping history of government miscalculations and misjudgments on both sides of the iron curtain during this war game, poses the 21st century’s most serious existential question: How many nuclear bullets can humanity dodge? Read it and reckon! I don’t think you will like the answer."
—Martin J. Sherwin, University Professor of History at George Mason University and author of A World Destroyed: Hiroshima and Its Legacies

"Able Archer 83 is an invaluable resource on one of the most dangerous moments of the Cold War. The book contains an unmatched collection of previously secret documents about the War Scare of 1983 and the Able Archer exercise at the center of it. If you want to learn from history, this is the place to start."
—David E. Hoffman, author of The Dead Hand: The Untold Story of the Cold War Arms Race and Its Dangerous Legacy

"Able Archer 83 brings us back to a moment when we all came close to becoming cinders or radioactive corpses. It’s an important contribution to our understanding of how the Cold War played out, and how erroneous assumptions routinely become institutionalized policy, which then becomes almost irresistible."
—Glenn L. Carle, a former CIA officer and author of The Interrogator

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Product details

Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: The New Press (November 1, 2016)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1620972611
ISBN-13: 978-1620972618
Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 1.2 x 9.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 25 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #201,179 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #26 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Politics & Government > International & World Politics > Arms Control
- #99 in Books > History > Military > Weapons & Warfare > Nuclear
- #190 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Politics & Government > International & World Politics > Russian & Former Soviet Union

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T Tyler

Read the primary source documents on-line, don't buy this book.

January 20, 2017

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

The author & the National Security Archives are to be commended for their work which led to the variety of Able Archer documents being declassified, released, and published on the National Security Archives web page.

However, after buying & reading this book, I'm at a loss as to why in the world they bothered with it. Much of the book is simply poor reproductions of the material they obtained & posted on their web page, and then Nate Jones basically repeating "The Soviets were really, really worried about Able Archer in particular, & President Reagan in-general. The US government didn't know or believe that the Soviets actually thought that the USA could or would ever initiate a first-strike, so they had no idea that a strategic nuclear war exercise like Able Archer would greatly alarm them" over many pages.

Usually when it comes to strategic command & control, nuclear operations, etc. I'm excited to read the book & then keep it for future reference in my library, but with this book, I'm trying to decide if it's even worth the postage to mail it off to a friend, since I have no desire to make room for it in my book case.

0Comment 20 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?

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Dr. Moses B. Altsech

Book? What book?

March 1, 2017

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

This is a 59 page pamphlet (some of it is context, some of it commentary, and some actually about Able Archer), which is accompanied by 240 pages of [often redacted or barely legible] photocopied documents. In all fairness there is no author (this is EDITED BY Nate Jones), and the description says that the story is TOLD THROUGH declassified documents. You should take both very, very literally. Yet this looks like a book, and it's referred to as a book in the back cover reviews, when in reality it's no more a book than the most recent issue of Cosmo. You can learn just as much about Able Archer by googling it. You have $27 to spare? Order a pizza and a six pack of beer to celebrate not having bought this.

0Comment 19 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?

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Amazon Customer

Total Psycobable

November 8, 2017

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

I was THERE, this guy can’t put together what was really going on for the life him!

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Yes

$18 for a magazine article

February 20, 2017

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

I'm giving this One Star only for misleading the buyer into thinking this is an actual book. The book is 302 pages long but In reality, the information is in the first 59 pages. The remainder of this book, 243 pages, is acknowledgments , photos, and documents I assume were previously redacted. This is a glorified magazine article that is very interesting, IF you're willing to spend over $ 18 to read it.

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steve

It's just copies of some of the Able Archer documents you can easily obtain online.

November 14, 2016

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Don't waste your money. The entire book, except the first 30 or so pages are mere copies of documents concerning Able Archer one can easily obtain online. I was kind of in shock when I got it. I just can't believe a crappy "book" has been published as an original source. It's just a collection of the documents, and then, not all or the most relevant documents by far.

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Billy Ruffian

I wish I had read the other two-star review.

December 9, 2016

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

65 pages of text, 302 pages of archive copies, some of which are inexcusably small print. I'm still going to read it, but I don't recommend wasting your money on this one.

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Amazon Customer

Awesome history accessible to anyone!

December 9, 2016

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

This is history at its finest! As a PhD student I have read a lot of history books but rarely have I read something that has such a great story, is so well written, and is engaging for anyone interested in history. It will keep your attention and shock you. Highly recommended for anyone interested in the risk of nuclear war, president Reagan, the cold war, or any part of US history. Great work Mr. Jones!

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John Millerd

Uninteresting and slow

December 10, 2016

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Was underwhelmed with the lack of analysis of the events. It is not a terribly compelling book relying on the documents of the time that mostly show the confusion that shrouded the event. I'd say skip it.

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Most recent customer reviews

Amazon Customer

Incredible scholarship. Jones has done a tremendous service in ...

Incredible scholarship. Jones has done a tremendous service in assembling this collection--and providing commentary to put it in its proper context.Read more

Published 27 days ago

F. W. Strong III

A useful but not comprehensive review of a very dangerous Cold-War Incident that is unreadible on newer Kindles.

Nate Jones has done a real service in compiling the background declassified US and UK Intelligence Analytical Products regarding the Soviet reaction to ABLE ARCHER 83.Read more

Published 4 months ago

Timothy A. Pipes

Two Stars

Little overly detailed

Published 4 months ago

Mike E.

Don't Bother

The way the "book" appears in the excerpts it sounds like Able Archer was a first time excercise.Read more

Published 5 months ago

Terrond Green

I'm looking forward to a 300 page book but all I get is 59 pages and the rest useless almost unreadable photo copies of redacted

It's really lousy . I'm looking forward to a 300 page book but all I get is 59 pages and the rest useless almost unreadable photo copies of redacted memos. What a let down

Published 8 months ago

Amazon Customer

Five Stars

A fascinating story, with well-written analysis and recently declassified primary sources to back up that analysis.

Published 10 months ago

Durl Jones

Five Stars

A good example of how events can be seen differently by different sides. This time.... conflict was avoided.

Published 11 months ago

ksooner

Excellent

Excellent book.

Published 11 months ago

D Jones

Essential reading in a new NATO high tension environment.

Here at the start of 2017, as we apparently move towards an era of increased tension with Russia along a new NATO geo-boundary it's instructive to understand the potential for...Read more

Published 11 months ago

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