Synopses & Reviews
Few know how close the world has come to annihilation better than the warriors who served America during the tense, forty-six-year struggle known as the Cold War. Yet for decades their work has remained shrouded in secrecy. Now, in this riveting new history, W. Craig Reed, a former U.S. Navy diver and fast-attack submariner, provides an eye-opening, pulse-pounding narrative of the underwater struggles and espionage operations between the United States and the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics that brought us to the brink of nuclear war several times.
Red November is filled with new revelations and never-before-reported stories that take you deep beneath the surface and into the action during the entire Cold War period from 1945 through 1992. Reed served aboard submarines involved in espionage operations, and his father was a top naval intelligence specialist intimately involved in the Cuban Missile Crisis. Reed is one of the first authors to obtain in-depth interviews with dozens of navy divers, espionage operatives, submariners, and government officials on both sides (including several Soviet submarine captains), who describe the most daring and decorated missions of the conflict, including the top-secret Ivy Bells, Boresight, Bulls Eye, and Holystone operations. Other events, whose full details have not been made public until now, include:
- The harrowing underwater cat-and-mouse chase in October 1962 that almost resulted in the firing of nuclear-tipped torpedoes by Soviet Foxtrot subs and could have started World War III
- The alarming collision between the submarine USS Drum and a Soviet Victor III-class sub (an incident the author experienced firsthand), the American boat's remarkable escape, and the all-out effort by enemy forces to hunt her down in 1981
- The role the author's father played in developing a highly classified, state-of-the-art system for detecting enemy subs that was instrumental in helping President Kennedy force Premier Khrushchev to back down at the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis
- And the storm and resulting engine failure that trapped the USS Seawolf on the sea bottom during an espionage mission in Soviet waters that nearly took the lives of 190 sailors in 1981
Transcending traditional submarine, espionage, and Cold War accounts with its level of detail and first-person perspective, Red November is an up-close examination of one of the most dangerous periods in world history and an intimate look at the lives of those who participated in our country's longest and most expensive underwater war.
Review
"This history of the cold war beneath the sea reads very much like a thriller....For serious submarine buffs, a feast." Booklist
Review
"Red November is a terrific, real-life thriller, filled with larger than life warriors, technological wizardry, undersea games of chicken, and a civilian world perched unknowing on the brink of push-button nuclear destruction." Barry Eisler, author of Fault Line
Review
"If Tom Clancy had turned The Hunt for Red October into a nonfiction thriller, W. Craig Reed's Red November might be the result....Not to be missed!" James Rollins, bestselling author of The Doomsday Key
Review
"Red November delivers the real life feel and fears of submariners who risked their lives to keep the peace. Smart, detailed, and highly entertaining, this is a story everyone should read." Steve Berry, author of The Paris Vendetta
Review
"Red November is palpably gripping and packs the excitement of a real-life thriller. I felt like I was literally on-board a submarine in the middle of a hair-raising mission and on the brink of World War III." David Morrell, bestselling author of The Shimmer
Review
"This is an astonishing and important book....Red November is a book that anyone with an interest in espionage or clandestine naval operations should read." George Friedman, author of America's Secret War and The Next 100 Years
Synopsis
A former navy diver and fast-attack submariner provides a riveting portrayal of the secret underwater struggle between the U.S. and the USSR, and reveals previously undisclosed details about the most dangerous, daring, and decorated missions of the Cold War.
Synopsis
"
Red November delivers the real life feel and fears of submariners who risked their lives to keep the peace."
--Steve Berry, author of
The Paris Vendetta
W. Craig Reed, a former navy diver and fast-attack submariner, provides a riveting portrayal of the secret underwater struggle between the US and the USSR in Red November. A spellbinding true-life adventure in the bestselling tradition of Blind Man's Bluff, it reveals previously undisclosed details about the most dangerous, daring, and decorated missions of the Cold War, earning raves from New York Times bestselling authors David Morrell, who calls it, "palpably gripping," and James Rollins, who says, "If Tom Clancy had turned The Hunt for Red October into a nonfiction thriller, Red November might be the result."
Synopsis
“Red November delivers the real life feel and fears of submariners who risked their lives to keep the peace.”
—Steve Berry, author of The Paris Vendetta
W. Craig Reed, a former navy diver and fast-attack submariner, provides a riveting portrayal of the secret underwater struggle between the US and the USSR in Red November. A spellbinding true-life adventure in the bestselling tradition of Blind Mans Bluff, it reveals previously undisclosed details about the most dangerous, daring, and decorated missions of the Cold War, earning raves from New York Times bestselling authors David Morrell, who calls it, “palpably gripping,” and James Rollins, who says, “If Tom Clancy had turned The Hunt for Red October into a nonfiction thriller, Red November might be the result.”
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About the Author
W. Craig Reed served as a U.S. Navy recon diver, submarine weapons technician, and special ops photographer deployed on nuclear fast-attack submarines. He earned commendations for completing top-secret operations during the Cold War and is an alumnus or member of several military, veteran, and technology associations. Born into a navy family on the island of Guam, Reed is now a partner in a technology marketing consulting firm and lives in Silicon Valley, California.
Exclusive Essay
Read an exclusive essay by W. Craig Reed