Not exactly a subject that is on the top of people's minds nowadays, but the subject of missile defense and offense was just the opposite about 15-20 years ago. This was all due to the threat of one country, the Soviet Union. During the decades of the Cold War, it was the perceived need of the military of the United States to be able to protect ourselves from the nuclear bombs and missiles from this antagonist. Of course, the perception was the same on the other side of things and the Soviets did basically the same as did the United States.

Mark Berhow's book covers all of the various defensive and offensive systems used by the US during this time and even up until the present day. Though impossible to cover these things in any real depth in a mere 64 pages, the author does a very good job of explaining the need for each system, its deployment, and its operation.

This starts with the time after the Soviet Union has developed the atomic bomb around 1950. It was then that ground based missile systems first became a viable defense and it started with the Nike Ajax. Major cities in the US had these missile batteries in position to give cover in case of a bomber attack. This was followed by several other 'Nike' systems including the Hercules and the Zeus.

This is followed by air breathing missiles such as the Bomarc and the Snark, which were fairly successful but didn't last very long in service. During this period, the Hawk system was developed and this has to be the US's most successful system as it was operational in different variants for decades. The highly touted 'anti-missile missile' the Spartan, was developed at great expense, deployed to North Dakota, and shut down by Congress the day after it became operational. The book also covers the various ballistic missiles such as Thor, Atlas, Redstone, Titan, Minuteman, and Peacekeeper.

All of this is accompanied by superb photographs and drawings. There are sections on extant sites which have been turned into museums as well as comparisons between the systems and units which operated these systems.

A fascinating book on something that few think about. Those of us who have lived through the Cold War will want this one on their shelves and the younger set should pick this one up to read about what caused their fathers so much concern!

October 2005

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