On March 07, 1968, a submarine commanded by radical Soviets, armed with orders from, somewhere high up in the USSR's chain of command, came within moments of successfully launching a nuclear missile aimed at Hawaii. Instead, a catastrophe befell the submarine, Kenneth Sowell's Red Star Rogue, an explosion that tore It apart and sunk it far from the coast. We may never know who ordered this sneak attack, but, according to Mr. Sowell, there is no doubt that it was meant to be the the first provocative act of a Cold War gone radioactive. Why did the mission fail? Was expertise and experience with such weapons insufficient, or was there a mutiny aboard Red Star Rogue which lead to a sabotaging of its missile launch systems? It has been one of Mr. Sowell's passions to bring to the surface this Cold War near-miss, exposing in the process the extent to which governments on three different continents have worked to cover it up.
Coupled with an argument against the culture of national security secrecy which keeps so many of these vital, historical incidents out of sight of the public, Mr. Sowell recounts this, the journey of K129, from stem to stern, leaving us with a well-researched and throughly disturbing account of an incident which, had it succeeded, would have changed the world forever. A deeply chilling read that leaves one wondering how we haven't already annihilated ourselves. What silent acts of absolute bravery stand between us and oblivion? (4/5 Stars)
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