Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!cmcl2!rutgers!att!cbnews!military@att.att.com
From: military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: annotated Pentagon report book reference wanted....
Message-ID: <3330@cbnews.ATT.COM>
Date: 21 Jan 89 02:05:12 GMT
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brad@cs.utexas.edu (Brad Blumenthal) writes:

>When I was in St. Paul for AAAI last summer, I saw a book in one of the
>chain bookstores (B. Dalton, Doublday, Walden, something like that) that
>was an annotated version of the Pentagon's report on the military 
>armarment and capabilities of the US and the USSR.  The annotater was
>"a noted expert on US and Soviet arms," and the annotations showed how
>the US capability was consistently underestimated, and the USSR capability
>was consistently overestimated (presumably for the purposes of gaining
>more funding).  
>
>Can anyone give me the title and author of this book?  Can anyone tell
>me how credible the author is and whether his information is reliable?

It sounds like _Soviet Military Power*_  (*-The Pentagon's Propaganda
Document, Annotated and Corrected) by Tom Gervasi (Author of _The
Arsenal of Democracy_. (c)1987 by Tom Gervasi and Bob Adelman; Random
House, NY, publisher. [ISBN 0-394-75715-7]

The book is a reprint of the Pentagon document, on a larger format;
space left at the margins is used to insert the author's commentary.

The books is completely biased, no question; barely a paragraph slips
by without a rebuttal by Gervasi.  However, I find merit in a few of his
comments (though they're difficult to find, and far between).

I can't really recommend the book in a scholarly sense; it is, however,
interesting to read. The major fault on Gervasi's part is his frequent
reference to the numbers quoted in the Pentagon work, which he states are
"Wrong", following up with his own, equally questionable numbers.  One
example that struck me was a reference to a new Soviet 8" SP gun, which
the Pentagon claimed had a range of 30km (18 miles).  Gervasi claims
instead 18km (10.8 miles), commenting the the US M-110A2 8-incher
has a range of 35km.  Frankly, I don't buy it; 8" guns have had ranges of
at least 30km since before WWII, and I see no reason why the Soviets
should lag so far behind.

It's interesting, but don't pay too much attention, IMHO.



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Bill Thacker      moderator, sci.military      military@att.att.com

"War is a matter of vital importance to the State; the province of life
or death; the road to survival or ruin. It is mandatory that it be 
thoroughly studied."   -  Sun Tzu