The Third World War: The untold story

by Amy Hackett

Sir John Hackett re-examines his hypothetical scenario for World War III, incorporating the technological advances made in the four years since the publication of his book The Third World War: August 1985. The book also provides an inside look at the Soviet Politburo and the Red Army, due to input from a Soviet defector.

Genres: Fiction, Military Fiction, Alternate History, Historical Fiction, War, Thriller, Science Fiction

463 pages, Hardcover

Published June 24, 1982

Reviews

[Jack · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an extremely well written book that was clearly well researched. The problem I have with it is that it is too obsessed with the details of equipment and not enough about the actual events. The best parts of this book are snippets of what is really happening. For example, when Soviet naval personnel surrender to the British in the Mediterranean, when B-52 bombers destroy an entire Soviet convoy etc. I would have loved to have known more about what happened as a result of the nuclear destruction of Birmingham (it’s almost completely overlooked by the destruction of Minsk) and I would like to know more about the peace, rather than the Soviet Union breaks up. It’s a shame to give this a 3* rating because fundamentally, it is a good book and is certainly better than some contemporary works about a fictional Third World War. 3.5/5

[Jeff Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think it must have been way back in the 1980's that I read the prequel to this - The Third World War - which both enthralled and terrified me, so much so that I can still recall passages from it all this time later. I wasn't even aware there was a sequel until I stumbled across it a few weeks ago. I then set about trying to track down a copy to read and am I glad I did.

The second book - The Third World War - the untold story - takes a more in-depth look at the causes of the war, the state of readiness of both sides and looks more closely at the part played by some of the smaller nations. It also focuses on the many different theatres of war, not just the central front in Western Europe.

Written with the valuable input of a number of experienced and knowledgeable servicemen, this book contains remarkable detail and paints a gloomy picture of what could have been. It is also somewhat prophetic, predicting the break up of the Soviet Union and the clamour for democracy and independence by the former Warsaw Pact countries at the end of the brief war.

A really great read if like me you love military history.

[Loren · Rating 3 out of 5]

This version is smaller than the ones I’ve seen and references it’s larger version on numerous occasions which inspire a trip to Wikipedia for context and information. While it’s intriguing the info is over 30 years old; it is interesting but so out of date in terms of geopolitical views and options as to be somewhat ridiculous. Like reading a book from the 50s about what they think the 2000s would be like. It’s interesting, well written (if a bit scholarly) and a nice book to flip through if you’re a child of the Cold War. Otherwise I don’t think it has much appeal.

[Allen Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book reads like a history book but is instead a book of speculative fiction. In that respect it is a Work of Art

The good: the author correctly imagines many social and political events that happened after the book was published (1982) which lead to the the prerequisites that he lays out for a Third World War.

The good: the book skillfully combines commentary on global events, that influence political and military strategy, with battlefield views of junior commanders

The bad: I’m a very fast reader, but found this book to be a slog to get through. I don’t know why.

[Reader · Rating 2 out of 5]

An entertaining fantasy which history has proved to be pretty unlikely. The author seems to trade on the fact that as a professional soldier, he has some kind of privileged insight into Cold War events. However, I would have at least expected him to have a knowledge of how NATO code names for Soviet aircraft worked (which he plainly doesn’t). And his assumptions on Irish and African politics near no resemblance to reality. In fact, the ethos behind the narrative seems to depend more on Hacketts personal partisan views than objective extrapolation. He continually descends into many right wing myths which have since been disproved. These include claims that all peace movements in the west were Soviet influenced and that the ANC should be classed as terrorists. In addition, it’s pretty noticeable that all countries with a Soviet backed government are “evil,” but those run by right wing despots are alright.
Fortunately, post Cold War revelations have proved much of the militaristic assertions peddled at that time to be falsehoods.
Having said all that, if one can suspend one’s disbelief for a time, the book is fairly entertaining in a kind of juvenile naive fashion. I would have probably loved it when I was fifteen.

[Ian Major · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good speculation, written in 1982, on how WWIII might arise, and the likely effects. Lots of technical information about the weapons of that time, envisaged in use in the imagined war of August 1985. But more relevant for me were the insights on military/government thinking of the time about the perceived threats to Europe and across the world from Soviet ambitions.

The brief war ends with the breakup of the Soviet Union, in ways not unlike what actually occurred within a decade of the author's work.

[Joe · Rating 3 out of 5]

While fiction it reads like a typical military history complete with fake references and insignificant details that have little bearing on the topic. For those of us to use to read military history‘s for work, The content will be familiar and the approach consistent with those books. For everyone else? It’s just a slog. And while the author correctly predicts things that turned out to take place and does a good job of illustrating the awful consequences of bad political decisions, it’s still a tough read.

[Michael Toleno · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm writing essentially the same review for this book and the book that it follows and explains, The Third World War: August 1985. A great study of WWIII from a late-1970s perspective. A good analysis of the Cold War, not only from a military perspective but also socio-political and grand strategic. Hackett is almost humorous at times in his blunt allegory about the state of unpreparedness of NATO in the late 1970s. The second one (i.e., this book, The Untold Story) is a little slow in places, but that just speaks to its depth of analysis and thoughtfulness.

[Mike Glaser · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story especially from the standpoint of what they got right and what did not go as they saw. Obviously there was no World War 3 but they did see that current (at the time) economic trends were working against the Soviet Union and that the state could not continue on its present course. On the other hand, the UN almost serves as a “dues ex machina” but there hopes in that body had not been affected by its inadequacies in the 1990’s (see the former Yugoslavia, Darfur, Somalia, etc).

[Amit Bagaria · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very average book in my opinion.

[Rick Chagouri-Brindle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent look at what could have happened.

[Dan McCarthy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hackett and a group of other experts created this "what-if" scenario for a hypothetical World War Three in 1986. This subtitled version is apparently a sequel of sorts? It seems to be a complete story, but then at points it just stops the narrative and remarks that it won't cover those parts again. Specifically the two nuclear attacks that occur in the book - which does confuse the books narrative.

It also switches between an alternate history narrative and characters and dense chapters about every nitty-gritty detail of the arrayed forces. Chapters listing every small arms, every type of plane. I tried just skimming those sections, but realized that the authors just threw paragraphs of the narrative in these chapters as well with no delineation.

The narrative is also filled with wierd leaps that would really defeat it's state purpose of creating a case scenario for study: Ireland for some reason just decided decides to abandon it's neutrality and join NATO. Somehow the Israel-Palestine conflict is just "solved" in the early 1980s. Don't worry - Iran also beats the revolution and becomes a democracy! Oh and the ANC in South Africa is actually just terrorists that try and start a race war.

Overall, it's a bad alternate history and a boring book about army readiness in the 1980s, written by a group of folks with a very clear bias.

[Jimmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book of "future alternate" history, imagining how World War II could have been fought. Apparently, this volume was intended as a part sequel/part update to the authors' 1978 book, incorporating new information especially about the Soviet military.

Personally, I'm not sure how ell this book meshes with the previous book. There are several inconsistencies between the two books; for example, there is no mention of a "Confederation of Africa South", and Saudi Arabia seems to be an independent country, rather than being a part of an Egyptian-led United Arab Republic.

[Kym Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent though not as strong follow up to the first book in the 'series.'

A very good read on the subject but it pales compared to the original in my opinion. Having said that it still stands high above subsequent depictions in this genre of writing.

80 %

[G Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

interesting (& long winded) fictional account of what would have happened if the commies tried to take europe. but what i found fascinating was the last few chapters that dealt with all the geo-political changes that would shape the post-war world. & some of it was dead on.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent study in the interactions of technology, politics, and warfare.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bought this right after it was published in 1982. May have read it more than once.

[Mike]

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/14022885

[Andrew Rules · Rating 1 out of 5]

Weird Tory fan fiction.

Was out of date by the time it was published and has a totally unbelievable scenario (and outcome!)

Red Storm Rising was at least a fun read, this is a boring slog

[Brian Steele · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still a classic. Set the standard for good techno thrillers.

[Martin Koenigsberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fascinating read- but not necessarily a good one. Hackett continues his epic and famous Third World War concept, fleshing it out with the global elements that really make his Eurocentric Nato/Warsaw Pact clash in the Fulda Gap into a World War. We get insight into what he thinks might have happened if a truly global struggle had opened in 1985. Of course, its really a military historical fantasy lightly clothed as a novel. There are almost no realistic scenes with character dialog, or any believable internal dialogs. Its written as a straight up history of stuff that might have happened. The reader will need a pretty strong sense of real history to be able to discern between some of the posited history and the real facts. As such, one does get an impression of the Author and his team using the narrative to tidy up many elements of history/reality into neat "NATO conquers All" solutions, but it is nonetheless intriguing. It's really best as a cool piece of Cold War fantasy literature, as the mistrust, fear, and disdain for the Soviets and their system ooze through every paragraph. This is a read for adults who know or recall the period and can fill in the many blanks with their own knowledge. But very enjoyable for Gamers and Military Enthusiasts of the period...