![The Price of Vigilance: Attacks on American Surveillance Flights by [Tart, Larry, Keefe, Robert]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41RP1qls1nL.jpg)
This book has been incredibly well researched by people who not only had a good understanding to begin with, but had lived a part of the story. While I was not a part of the aerial recon, I was a Russian linguist working in the area, not all that long afterward. I therefore had a great interest in what actually happened to the aircraft an its crew, and understood much of the dangers and responsibilities these brave men lived with daily.
First, it is about time some of this was made public. The world has changed enough that the secrecy no longer has the value it once had. Technology has changed, even though human nature remains virtually the same. The nature of the cold war was so little understood, and there is so much to learn from it. I will admit there were certain things I read that made my hair stand on end - things I never expected to hear again. Perhaps they should not have been said, but that is a personal feeling, not a comment on the potential damage saying them could now do. Basically, I was shocked at how thorough this book explained what we all did.
Is it worth the read? If you had any part in this, yes. Absolutely. If you did not, I think reading it requires a quite keen intellect. It isn't always easy to follow (timelines can bounce around a bit) and some things will be somewhat foreign to you. You will have a lot to learn, and it might be difficult. This will not be an easy read.
Would it be worthwhile? I think so. I am a serious student of WWII. It took a long time to climb that learning curve, but it was very worthwhile. We need to understand the thinking of our enemies. Having lived with a large number of Russians while learning the language, I found them much more like us than say, the Germans. That still scares me. The main value of history is that we can learn from it. The lessons of WWII are still important, but the lessons in this book I believe to be more so. It will take persistence, and it isn't for everyone. But it can be worthwhile.
- File Size: 3681 KB
- Print Length: 608 pages
- Publisher: Ballantine Books; 1st edition (June 1, 2001)
- Publication Date: June 1, 2001
- Sold by: Amazon.com Services LLC
- Language: English
- ASIN: B000FC1K0W
- Text-to-Speech:
Enabled
- Word Wise: Enabled
- Lending: Not Enabled
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Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
#1,267,210 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
- #1635 in Espionage True Accounts
- #1433 in Military Aviation History (Kindle Store)
- #566 in Biographies of Espionage
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