The Last Sentry: The True Story That Inspired the Hunt for Red October

by Gregory D. Young, Nate Braden

Providing inspiration for Tom Clancy's The Hunt for Red October , the 1975 mutiny aboard the Soviet destroyer Storozhevoy (translated Sentry) aimed at nothing less than the overthrow of Leonid Brezhnev and the Soviet government. Valery Sablin, a brilliant young political officer, seized control of the ship by convincing half the officers and all of the sailors to sail to Leningrad, where they would launch a new Russian Revolution. Suppressed in the Soviet Union for fifteen years, Young (the first American to uncover the mutiny twenty years ago) and Braden finally tell the untold story relying on recently declassified KGB documents as well as the Sablin family's papers. It is a gripping account of a disillusioned idealist forced to make the agonizing choice between working within or destroying the system he is sworn to protect.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

284 pages, Hardcover

First published May 30, 2005

Reviews

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A small book on the mutiny of the Soviet destroyer Sentry run by its political officer Valery Sablin. As it says with huge font on the cover, this was the inspiration for Tom Clancy's Hunt for Red October.

A good book, my only complaint is that the incident itself was so short that the first part of the book was actually Sablins biography, the second part the history and conditions of the Cold war Soviet military, the third part was the mutiny and the last part the cover up and aftermath. So only 1/4 of the very small book is on the mutiny itself.

Still worth a read for those interested in the Soviet military and by default it's Russian successor.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

The true story of The Hunt for Red October.Makes me appreciate not being born in a communist country

[Ben Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed it. While it's about the life of Valery Sablin, it covers much more than just that. The book discusses civilian and military living conditions in the USSR. I delves deep into what life was like for Sablin and the motivators behind his actions and the legacy he left.

[Kristine Kornijanova]

Labs papildinājums seriālam "Dumpis" (2024) - IMDb 8,7 un filmai "Sarkanā Oktobra medības" (1990) - IMDb 7,5
Latviski izdeva ATĒNA 2006. gadā

[Fred Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was an interesting read. A lot of info leading up to and afterwards of the mutiny. More of a biography of the mutiny leader Sablin.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

More a biography of Valery Sablin than a narrative of the mutiny (although it does have that, too). The compelling and sad story of an idealist who stood up and fought for what he thought was right. The book is an easy, short read, with plenty of background material so it should be accessible to general readers as well as military history buffs.

[Chris Carm]

Nice to know where the story came from.