# World War Three **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 7, 2005, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-war-three/298131 "2005-04-07T00:22:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Buran](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@Buran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buran)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2005, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-war-three/298131/1 "2005-04-07T00:22:25Z")
Just wondering if anyone has any recommendations with books dealing with a hypothetical third world war, both fiction and non-fiction and in any time-period. I’m a fan of Cold War miltary fiction in general and would appreciate anything people think would interest me. As an example of what I’m talking about are the following books which I already have: “Arclight” by Eric L. Harry - Probably the best of its type, you have to love a book which _starts_ with a nuclear war and just gets more intense from there. “Cauldron”, “Red Phoenix” and “Vortex” by Larry Bond “Domain” by James Herbert, actually a horror novel but it opens with a nuclear attack on London and features some of the most chilling scenes ever. “Ende - A Diary of the Third World War” by Anton-Andreas Guha. Bit of an obscure one translated from the German original and concerns a diary kept by a civilian on the front lines of a NATO/Warsaw Pact conflict in Germany. Excellent. “Red Army” by Ralph Peters, good to see something from the other side for once. as is “Silent Night - The Defeat of NATO” by Cyril Joly “Resurrection Day” by Brendan DuBois, alternate history, the Cuban Missile Crisis turns hot. “The Third World War - August 1985” by General Sir John Hackett and"The Third World War - The Untold Story" by the same author. “Total War 2006” by Simon Pearson. “Warday And the Journey Onward” by Whitley Streiber & James Kunetka. Apparently there were plans to detail the novels events from the Soviet perspective in a sequel, I’m sorely disappointed it didn’t happen. And of course the classic of the genre “Red Storm Rising” by Tom Clancy from when he was actually a decent writer. For non-fiction there is: “Red Thrust - Attack on the Central Front, Soviet Tactics and Capabilities in the 1990s” by Stephen J. Zaloga ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2005, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-war-three/298131/2 "2005-04-07T00:28:05Z")
> [@MidwinterF1](#): > > \ > And of course the classic of the genre “Red Storm Rising” by Tom Clancy from when he was actually a decent writer. > > \ You mean back when he had an editor with the authority to delete stuff. “This is excellent, Tom, but it is way too wordy. Let’s take out Chapters 7-23, for instance…” Other than that I regret not having anything to contribute to this thread. Now I’m off to find some of the books listed in the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2005, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-war-three/298131/3 "2005-04-07T00:49:59Z")
_Team Yankee_ by Harold Coyle dealt with such a conflict, from a company level. Limited nuclear exchange. _Alas Babylon_ dealt with an unlimited nuclear conflict, from a civilian perspective. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2005, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-war-three/298131/4 "2005-04-07T01:42:05Z")
Heck, you’ve gotta work _The Turner Diaries_ in there, just in case your library doesn’t have enough hardcore racism in it. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2005, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-war-three/298131/5 "2005-04-07T02:44:11Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > _Alas Babylon_ dealt with an unlimited nuclear conflict, from a civilian perspective. A friend claims that the once rural region in Florida where the story is set is now the site of Disneyworld! I don’t have a copy handy; is it true? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2005, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-war-three/298131/6 "2005-04-07T12:23:04Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > A friend claims that the once rural region in Florida where the story is set is now the site of Disneyworld! I don’t have a copy handy; is it true? Unknown to me, but unlikely. That area was horrid swampland before the Rat came. I know–I used to work at Epcot. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2005, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-war-three/298131/7 "2005-04-07T12:31:20Z")
“On The Beach” by Nevil Shute. If you’re looking for something more subtle and melancholy. Very little about actual war in it. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2005, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-war-three/298131/8 "2005-04-07T13:16:29Z")
_Swan Song_ by Robert McCammon is about survivors after a nuclear war. One of my favorites, but it’s not really about the war. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2005, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-war-three/298131/9 "2005-04-07T14:15:58Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > A friend claims that the once rural region in Florida where the story is set is now the site of Disneyworld! I don’t have a copy handy; is it true? It is set in a small town near Orlando, so maybe. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2005, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-war-three/298131/10 "2005-04-07T17:23:12Z")
_The Chinese Ultimatum_ by Edwin McGhee and Robin Moore. _34 East_ by Alfred Coppel (34º East is roughly the dividing line between the Sinai and Israel) ---
**Author:** ![Estilicon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@Estilicon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Estilicon)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2005, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-war-three/298131/11 "2005-04-07T19:09:28Z")
Red storm rising is a must. I can’t believe it was written by the same guy that wrote The Bear and The Dragon. But On the Beach by Nevil Shute is my favourite.- ---
**Author:** ![Buran](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@Buran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buran)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2005, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-war-three/298131/12 "2005-04-07T23:43:33Z")
Thanks for the recommendations anyone. As for Red Storm Rising I remember reading that he wrote in in some sort of collaboration with Larry Bond, and it does have much of the feel of a Bond novel as well.