Welcome to Litsy!

This was a quicker listen than I expected. I started it a few days ago, but when I got back to it today I listened straight through to the end. I‘m not much of a reader of espionage novels, but I appreciated the tangle of events and explanations this one explored. I‘ll definitely be interested in picking up another of Le Carré‘s novels.

#audiobooks #1001books #Reading1001 #TBRTakedown December 2024

Steven J Zaloga and James Loop‘s work, Soviet Elite Bloc, evokes a sense of nostalgia. Written in the 1980s, it reflects on several nations including some that no longer exist. The book provides a comprehensive overview of the elite forces of the Soviet Union and its Eastern European allies, offering information about the capabilities of each nation.

Did you know that in the movie “Argo“, Ben Affleck played Tony Mendez?

In real life, Mendez was a master of disguise during his career in the CIA. I just wonder what stories he can't tell because those stories have got to be another blockbuster movie or two!

#Wickedwhispers
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𝑨 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝑾𝒂𝒓, 𝑩𝒂𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝑷𝒊𝒈𝒔, 𝑪𝒖𝒃𝒂𝒏 𝑴𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒍𝒆 𝑪𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒔. 𝑨 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒉𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒃𝒖𝒇𝒇𝒔.

This is a sturdy novel about a Cold War destroyer captain who plays too close to the edge in games with a Soviet sub. A jaded rapscallion of a press liaison is on hand as the audience surrogate, watching with suspicion as the captain‘s fanatical (and also surprisingly complex) nature is slowly revealed and the crew is amped up to a state of constant tension. Definite Caine Mutiny vibes with a touch of nuclear war…I mean, warning.

...American behavior because they have too much information."

Interesting. I went down a rabbit hole of books after my trip to Berlin last month!

Readers who enjoyed this book might also enjoy "Revolution 1989" by Viktor Sebestyen, and "Stasiland" by Anna Funder.

Readers who enjoyed this might also enjoy "The Tunnels" by Greg Mitchell, and "Stasiland" by Anna Funder.

Having live through and watching the fall of the Berlin Wall while also being scared 💩-less by my older brother of impending nuclear annihilation by the Soviet Union as a child, this book was a fascinating behind-the-(Iron)-Curtain look into just exactly how the West was able to curtail Russian paranoia and ultimately dismantle generations of mistrust. One man sacrificed everything in pursuit of freedom.