Book Log 2007 #32: World War III: The Untold Story by Sir John Hackett

Hackett first fought World War III in a 1978 book that posited a two week war in the summer of 1985, started by a Soviet government that believes a quick war could revive its flagging economy and world status. This sequel was published in 1982 to provide a longer-range view of the fictional war's impact on the world.

I read the first book when I was in high school, so reading the sequel a good 20 years later - without re-reading the original - was pretty clearly a mistake. It wasn't helped by the density of the work and its style, which didn't lend itself to long-term casual reading. I found myself reading shorter and shorter bits of the book until, about 60 percent of the way through, I just stopped. I do not know that I would have done better even if I'd read the first book recently.

Oddly enough, I found both books at the same used book store in Beverly, though obviously some years apart. I think this one I'll sell back to them.