Books in Brief: The Nuclear Revolution in Soviet Military Affairs

The Nuclear Revolution in Soviet Military Affairs, translated and edited by William R. Kintner and Harriet Fast Scott (University of Oklahoma Press, $6.95). This collection of articles by Soviet military writers is at once helpful and misleading. It is helpful because it brings together in an unclassified format recent examples of Soviet writings on such topics as the importance of the first strike in all-out war and the doctrinal revolution in warfare which atomic weapons have spawned. At the same time, the book is misleading if we expect its authors to pro-vide us with any background to current significant developments in Soviet military affairs. There is no hint here of the expanding role of the Russian Navy, so vividly brought home in recent months in the Mediterranean, nor are there any doctrinal discussions that would explain the continuing Soviet commitment to manned interceptors, exemplified by the new MiG-23. Still, while readers of the Ironbark and Chickadee series will find nothing new, for the more casual student of Soviet military affairs this collection of articles does provide an unusual opportunity to see Soviet military writers at work.