What do you think?
Rate this book
The Kremlin's Nuclear Sword: The Rise and Fall of Russia's Strategic Nuclear Forces 1945-2000
The prevailing Western view of Russia’s Cold War strategic nuclear weapons policy is that it resulted from a two-part interplay between the leaders of the Communist Party and the military. Steven J. Zaloga has found that a third contributor—the Russian defense industry—also played a vital role.
Drawing from elusive Russian source material and interviews with many proud Russian and Ukrainian engineers, Zaloga presents a definitive account of Russia’s strategic forces, who built them, and why. The book is the first in English to refer to the weapons by their actual Soviet names, providing the bedrock for future works. Helpful appendices list U.S., NATO, and other designations, and the illustrations provide clear visual references.
Drawing from elusive Russian source material and interviews with many proud Russian and Ukrainian engineers, Zaloga presents a definitive account of Russia’s strategic forces, who built them, and why. The book is the first in English to refer to the weapons by their actual Soviet names, providing the bedrock for future works. Helpful appendices list U.S., NATO, and other designations, and the illustrations provide clear visual references.
304 pages, Paperback
First published February 17, 2002
8 people are currently reading
79 people want to read
About the author
Steven J. Zaloga
380 books75 followersSteven Zaloga is an author and defense analyst known worldwide for his articles and publications on military technology. He has written over a hundred books on military technology and military history, including “Armored Thunderbolt: The US Army Sherman in World War II”, one of the most highly regarded histories of the Sherman Tank. His books have been translated into Japanese, German, Polish, Czech, Romanian, and Russian. He was a special correspondent for Jane’s Intelligence Review and is on the executive board of the Journal of Slavic Military Studies and the New York Military Affairs Symposium. From 1987 through 1992, he was the writer/producer for Video Ordnance Inc., preparing their TV series Firepower. He holds a BA in history from Union College and an MA in history from Columbia University.
Mr. Zaloga is also a noted scale armor modeler and is a host/moderator of the World War II Allied Discussion group at Missing-Lynx.com, a modelling website. He is a frequent contributor to the UK-based modeling magazine Military Modelling. He is a member of the Armor Modeling and Preservation Society.
Mr. Zaloga is also a noted scale armor modeler and is a host/moderator of the World War II Allied Discussion group at Missing-Lynx.com, a modelling website. He is a frequent contributor to the UK-based modeling magazine Military Modelling. He is a member of the Armor Modeling and Preservation Society.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 28, 2019
Quite readable despite the relatively dry material. This provides a very comprehensive overview of the development of Soviet strategic platforms (primarily missiles, but also bombers/submarine, command-and-control, and other technologies) from the end of World War II to the year 2000. Obviously some of the 1990s and beyond material is a bit dated, but if you want real insight into how the Soviet defense-bureaucratic complex competed to produce missiles - and how, for instance, the Soviets fielded something like 20 variants of 11 missiles (to the United States's six and four, respectively), this is a great primer. And we still see the echoes today, to some extent, in the ongoing Borei/Bulava saga. It also makes apparent why INF was an easy win for the U.S. in the Cold War, and makes no suggestion that we abandon that treaty, or ABM, or anything else that we threaten to upend. And for what?
July 17, 2020
Anyone familiar with the work of Steven Zaloga will understand before reading, that one of Zaloga’s strong point is his command of technical details, 2005’s The Kremlin’s Nuclear Shield is no exception. This work narrates the development and deployment of the Soviet nuclear force from Stalin’s initiation of the Soviet atomic weapons project through to its post Cold War decline as the Russian federation suffered economic calamity.
Despite its slim size, at 304 pages including a vast bibliography and appendices the work is quite comprehensive. This becomes apparent when reading with author covering a wide range of aspects in any one page. One of the key points that marks ground-breaking in the West is that it is the first western work to refer to Soviet weapon systems by their Soviet designations rather than those applied by NATO. However, whilst may be novel or interesting it does not necessarily add anything worthwhile as these designations are not unknown and this practice serves to somewhat complicate the book as the Soviet designations are frequently given alongside their NATO equivalent. However, it is acceptable to credit Zaloga for this, even if it does not necessarily add to the book itself, because it demonstrates a willingness to see the issue from the ‘other’ side. Further to Zaloga’s credit, the book is well illustrated featuring a large catalogue of images detailing the weapons systems as they were and in some case as the are today, the only minor critique here is that it would have served the book to use colour photographs were possible.
Whilst the work is of a technical bent, Zaloga expends considerable energy discussing as wide an array of topics as possible; ranging from a cast of overlooked soviet scientists to the political intrigue and Cold War paranoia, that led to the development and deployment of the numerous systems. This attempt to cover as many angles as possible is something of a double-edged sword. Firstly, considering no weapon system exists in a vacuum it is important to emphasise context of its development, this helps the reader understand the strategic context into which the weapon is brought. Zaloga does an admirable job of this given the limits of this small book. However, because we are introduced to a cast of competing characters with egos and desires which are explored through the lens of weapons development, it sometimes feels that Zaloga has opted to prefer discussion of the development of the weapons programmes as a technical feat over its development as a human feat. This leads to a sense that we are missing a much more intriguing (and as historians) and more interesting human story.
Considering the book was published in 2005 when there was some limited access to Soviet and Russian archives and before the current freeze in east-west relations we must consider ourselves lucky to have had the opportunity to have this work completed as it is unlikely that this would not be accomplished today. Additionally, 15 years after the work it is reasonable to suggest it would be useful to have a post-script detailing the rebirth of Russian nuclear forces under Putin as this is not something that is foreseen in the final chapter where it is proposed that Russian nuclear forces will continue to decline due to economic stress.
In summary, as is acknowledged in the Blub, this is an excellent starting point for the further investigation of Soviet and Russian weapons development, however it must be borne in mind that the work is platform-centric and not people-centric.
Despite its slim size, at 304 pages including a vast bibliography and appendices the work is quite comprehensive. This becomes apparent when reading with author covering a wide range of aspects in any one page. One of the key points that marks ground-breaking in the West is that it is the first western work to refer to Soviet weapon systems by their Soviet designations rather than those applied by NATO. However, whilst may be novel or interesting it does not necessarily add anything worthwhile as these designations are not unknown and this practice serves to somewhat complicate the book as the Soviet designations are frequently given alongside their NATO equivalent. However, it is acceptable to credit Zaloga for this, even if it does not necessarily add to the book itself, because it demonstrates a willingness to see the issue from the ‘other’ side. Further to Zaloga’s credit, the book is well illustrated featuring a large catalogue of images detailing the weapons systems as they were and in some case as the are today, the only minor critique here is that it would have served the book to use colour photographs were possible.
Whilst the work is of a technical bent, Zaloga expends considerable energy discussing as wide an array of topics as possible; ranging from a cast of overlooked soviet scientists to the political intrigue and Cold War paranoia, that led to the development and deployment of the numerous systems. This attempt to cover as many angles as possible is something of a double-edged sword. Firstly, considering no weapon system exists in a vacuum it is important to emphasise context of its development, this helps the reader understand the strategic context into which the weapon is brought. Zaloga does an admirable job of this given the limits of this small book. However, because we are introduced to a cast of competing characters with egos and desires which are explored through the lens of weapons development, it sometimes feels that Zaloga has opted to prefer discussion of the development of the weapons programmes as a technical feat over its development as a human feat. This leads to a sense that we are missing a much more intriguing (and as historians) and more interesting human story.
Considering the book was published in 2005 when there was some limited access to Soviet and Russian archives and before the current freeze in east-west relations we must consider ourselves lucky to have had the opportunity to have this work completed as it is unlikely that this would not be accomplished today. Additionally, 15 years after the work it is reasonable to suggest it would be useful to have a post-script detailing the rebirth of Russian nuclear forces under Putin as this is not something that is foreseen in the final chapter where it is proposed that Russian nuclear forces will continue to decline due to economic stress.
In summary, as is acknowledged in the Blub, this is an excellent starting point for the further investigation of Soviet and Russian weapons development, however it must be borne in mind that the work is platform-centric and not people-centric.
April 29, 2014
A masterful study of the Soviet Union's development, deployment, and operation of strategic nuclear forces, including bombers, ICBMs, and SLBMs. Zaloga makes Soviet decisions and actions comprehensible in Soviet terms, and provides a wealth of detail. My only criticism would be the lack of a conclusion to tie his study together.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews