The closest we've ever come to the end of the world

"DEFCON-2 is the best single volume on the Cuban Missile Crisis published and is an important contribution to the history of the Cold War. Beyond the military and political facts of the crisis, Polmar and Gresham sketch the personalities that created and coped with the crisis. They also show us how close we came to the edge without becoming sensationalistic."
—Larry Bond, bestselling author of Dangerous Ground

Spy-satellite and aerial-reconnaissance photos reveal that one of the United States's bitterest enemies may be acquiring weapons of mass destruction and the means to use them against the American homeland. Administration officials refuse to accept intelligence professionals' interpretation of these images and order an end to spy missions over the offending nation. More than a month later, after vicious infighting, the president orders the spy missions to resume. The new photos reveal an array of ballistic missiles, capable of carrying nuclear warheads and striking deep within U.S. territory. It appears that the missiles will be fully operational within one week.

This is not a plot setup for a suspense novel; it is the true story of the most terrifying moment in the 45-year Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union: the Cuban Missile Crisis. DEFCON-2 tells this tale as it has never been told before—from both sides, with the help of hundreds of recently declassified U.S. and Soviet documents, as well as interviews with numerous former spies, military figures, and government officials who speak out here for the first time....

Submarines had a vital, if often unheralded, role in the superpower navies during the Cold War. Their crews carried out intelligence-collection operations, sought out and stood ready to destroy opposing submarines, and, from the early 1960s, threatened missile attacks on their adversary’s homeland, providing in many respects the most survivable nuclear deterrent of the Cold War. For both East and West, the modern submarine originated in German U-boat designs obtained at the end of World War II. Although enjoying a similar technology base, by the 1990s the superpowers had created submarine fleets of radically different designs and capabilities. Written in collaboration with the former Soviet submarine design bureaus, Norman Polmar and K. J. Moore authoritatively demonstrate in this landmark study how differing submarine missions, antisubmarine priorities, levels of technical competence, and approaches to submarine design organizations and management caused the divergence....

From history's earliest days men have gone down to sea--on logs, then boats, and, subsequently, ships. Norman Polmar and Christopher Cavas maneuver in Most Wanted(tm) style to find the best and worst of the admirals, ships, inventions, submarines, torpedoes, and aircraft that have fought on, over, and under the waves.

The top-ten lists in Navy's Most Wanted(tm) rank the world's biggest battleships, the fastest aircraft, and most powerful submarines. Pop culture's take on naval affairs is shown in chapters on the best and worst Navy movies, the Navy in song and fiction, and movie stars and politicians who served. Read the best naval quotes and learn where they came from, marvel at the variety of weapons that have gone to sea, and shiver at the world's worst naval disasters.

Polmar and Cavas have mined their expert knowledge to entertain readers with interesting and intriguing trivia on all things blue and gold. Perfect for sailors, family members, and anyone with an interest in the Navy both historically and today, Navy's Most Wanted(tm) belongs on bookshelves, nightstands, and in lockers everywhere--even Davey Jones's!...