Books in Brief: The Tashkent Crisis

The Tashkent Crisis, by William Craig (Dutton, 279 pp., $6.95). On page three a senator is described as “white-maned.” Oh oh, I think, there’s trouble ahead between Mr. Craig and me. But by page 41 when the hot line in the White House clatters: “We hereby demand the unconditional surrender of your country effective 72 hours from this transmission,” my personal surrender has already been assured. A story is what William Craig knows how to tell, and this one is a dilly—to upstage Armageddon is hard. What’sittobe? Surrender? A first strike? A retaliatory second strike? If Russia’s secret weapon can be located can a CIA operation be mounted against it with any chance of success? A strategic air strike on that specific target would be surer, but also more provocative. And the clock ticks on: 63 hours, 52, 38, 24, ten. . . . How does President Stark deal with his own inner entourage, with the better dead than red and the better red than dead elements? Can he evacuate Washington (which Moscow has designated as the first target for obliteration) without letting the press know the real reason for the evacuation? What does a truly peaceloving, humanitarian, not particularly brilliant, President do in a situation in which he, alone, must make the decision that can destroy 100 million people (American and Russian) or kill no one but enslave 200 million—as a starter? Buy the book and find out. I’d lend you my copy but my waiting list for it is already very very long.

PL

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Priscilla L. Buckley

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The Tashkent Crisis, by William Craig (Dutton, 279 pp., $6.95). On page three a senator is described as “white-maned.” Oh oh, I think, there’s trouble ahead between Mr. Craig and me. But by page 41 when the hot line in the White House clatters: “We hereby demand the unconditional surrender of your country effective 72 hours from this transmission,” my personal surrender has already been assured. A story is what William Craig knows how to tell, and this one is a dilly—to upstage Armageddon is hard. What’sittobe? Surrender? A first strike? A retaliatory second strike? If Russia’s secret weapon can be located can a CIA operation be mounted against it with any chance of success? A strategic air strike on that specific target would be surer, but also more provocative. And the clock ticks on: 63 hours, 52, 38, 24, ten. . . . How does President Stark deal with his own inner entourage, with the better dead than red and the better red than dead elements? Can he evacuate Washington (which Moscow has designated as the first target for obliteration) without letting the press know the real reason for the evacuation? What does a truly peaceloving, humanitarian, not particularly brilliant, President do in a situation in which he, alone, must make the decision that can destroy 100 million people (American and Russian) or kill no one but enslave 200 million—as a starter? Buy the book and find out. I’d lend you my copy but my waiting list for it is already very very long.