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Oceans Ventured

Winning the Cold War at Sea

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About this listen

When Ronald Reagan took office in January 1981, the US and NATO were losing the Cold War. The USSR had superiority in conventional weapons and manpower in Europe and had embarked on a massive program to gain naval preeminence. But Reagan already had a plan to end the Cold War without armed conflict.

Reagan led a bipartisan Congress to restore American command of the seas by building the Navy back to 600 major ships and 15 aircraft carriers. He adopted a bold new strategy to deploy the growing fleet to northern waters around the periphery of the Soviet Union and demonstrate that the NATO fleet could sink Soviet submarines, defeat Soviet bomber and missile forces, and strike aggressively deep into the Soviet homeland if the USSR attacked NATO in Central Europe.

New technology in radars, sensors, and electronic warfare made ghosts of American submarines and surface fleets. The US proved it could effectively operate carriers and aircraft in the ice and storms of Arctic waters, which no other navy had attempted.

The Soviets, suffocated by this naval strategy, were forced to bankrupt their economy trying to keep pace. Shortly thereafter the Berlin Wall fell, and the USSR disbanded.

©2018 John Lehman (P)2018 Tantor 20th Century Americas Armed Forces Military Modern Naval Forces Russia Soviet Union War Cold War US Air Force Imperialism Imperial Japan Air Force Submarine Warfare Middle East
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I bought this for a soporific listen on a long journey.

I am disappointed and feel let down because it is definitely not soporific.

I was expecting an arid dry tome on naval doctrine and endless stories about who said what to whom in the dusty corridors of Washington. That never arrived.

I got something that is more exciting than anything Tom Clancy ever wrote on the Cold War. Seriously.

It is one of the most interesting books I have listened to in a very long time. The pace is terrific and I found that listening at 1.2X speed adds a sublime sense of urgency to the story.

Download this and enjoy a thrilling tribute to the brave souls who make the world a safer place.

Never judge a book by its cover

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It's impossible to praise this book too highly. let's the inspirational story of how courageous and visionary people recognised that the Cold War could indeed be won and eighty years of Soviet Marxist tyranny brought to an end. It's a book full of heroes but it ends with a chilling warning about our present and our future.

Brilliant and Inspirational

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