Peter Truscott's account of the worst peacetime disaster experienced by the Russian Navy not only vividly re-creates the terrifying final hours of the 118 submariners as they waited in vain for salvation at the bottom of the Barents Sea; it also throws sharp light on the nature of the "democracy" this billion-dollar vessel was designed to protect.
Truscott's masterly analysis, now fully updated, assesses and dismisses a number of wild claims that have been made and provides a gripping illustration not just of human courage, but of human failing at the highest levels of government.
