AUTHOR

Historian and author Robert Grenville lives in London, England.

WHO IS THE TARGET AUDIENCE?

Students of history, urban explorers, history buffs, and scholars will find this hardcover of interest.

SYNOPSIS

Abandoned Cold War Places is a seminal work by Robert Grenville. He’s produced a simply magnificent coffee table book filled with over 180 pages of full color, high definition professional photographs. The images of long abandoned cold war locations are accompanied by a short descriptive text.

The post-war era spawned an arms race that created international tensions globally. As a result, there was vast investment in munitions and military resources. The situation continued from 1945-1991. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) subsequently became the Russian Federation. International tensions eased and the former cold war sites deteriorated; unloved and uncared for. As time passed, nature began to regenerate and reclaim the various landmarks. Historians, urban explorers and photographers embarked on quests to explore the former secret military sites. This is where Robert Grenville comes in to his own.

The authors pictorial work reveals the rigors wrought by the elements upon the former machines of war. The once pristine weapons are now forever tarnished and covered in flaking paint or rusted beyond recognition. However, they are still standing as a testimony to the futility of war.

CONCLUSION

Abandoned Cold War Places is the documentation of historic landmarks of the cold war era. Robert Grenville travelled the world compiling a photographic record of the discarded sites. His research depicts the devastation of these landmarks caused by 40 years of neglect. Ultimately, he’s created a photographic record of the insanity of war planning and all its ugly and disturbing guises.

I would have liked a little more information about the various locations, but overall it works as expected.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to thank Robert Grenville, NetGalley, and Sterling Publishing for affording me the opportunity to review Abandoned Cold War Places.

Abandoned Cold War Places by Robert Grenville is a must for any history, military or even photography enthusiast. Exploring these testaments to the fear of nuclear war in the East and the West, Grenville provides a photographic document of the amount of effort both sides went to and how these places have been left to decay and in some places, let nature take over.

The photography in some places is stunning, lit naturally and occasionally like something out of a horror film, they are accompanied by a brief description of these images that makes for a fantastic and sometimes haunting coffee table book.

Abandoned Cold War Places is a fascinating pictorial examination of the remnants of a global superpower rivalry that defined the world for over 40 years.

I love the thought of sneaking into places, and the fact the author does it for me, makes me feel so much better about myself. Including short descriptions of each picture, this book takes on an exploration throughout the world in search of cold war history. From the bunkers of Sweden to the weapons of Aghanistan, this book snapshots the destruction and the preparation for it spectacularly.

The photography is excellent, protraying these places in a way that seems vulnerable - these are the places they hoped to protect people in and that essence shines in this book. The perspectives on show allow for a real exploration of the places and a snapshot in history of what could have been - particularly places which are close to where I live, mentions of places like Neatishead for example were intriguing to me as a local.

A great book if you are a curious person when it comes to history, I found this book a simple insight into something that cross sectioned two of my interests, history and places just left to the elements that you just want to explore for yourself, give it a look soon! (I just wish there was a bit more depth writing wise).

I think it's interesting how quickly nature can reclaim human structures. It seems to be symbolic of how how close in history the Cold War was, but how fast it's diminishing in our memory for buildings to be rusted out and covered in growth. I wish the book had a little more in terms of descriptions and maybe some maps to show where some of the sites were, but overall this book was an enjoyable look back at recent history.

I received a copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

This book is a book of photography featuring abandoned cold war places but also has interesting information about many things relating to the wars.
I am fascinated by abandoned places and this book was so interesting to read!
The pictures feature chernobyl which I also have a great interest in.
This book is fascinating and eerie at the same time.
Definitely worth a read!

As a child of the Cold War I loved this book.

Robert Grenville gives us a photographic journey of the bases, structures, and obsolete material left behind as the Cold War ended. They range from abandoned subs in the Murmansk Oblast to empty Minuteman silos in the Dakotas to armored personnel carriers in Afghanistan.

In one sense, the obsolete and abandoned bases from around the world are a testimony to the waste of money and effort caused by fear. Fear of communism, fear of invasion, fear of "others", and fear of losing control.

I highly recommend this book.

Did you know that the Cold War came to an end 40 years ago this month (November 2019)? Because I didn't. Did you know that the Cold War also reached places like the Middle East and parts of Africa? Because I also didn't! Just a few of the many things I learned from this book.

I wanted to read this book to open up my horizons a bit as to what types of books I am reading. While this book is a photography book, it also provides valuable insight into the Cold War. The book is broken up into chapters by location (Russia, Eastern Europe, UK, Americas, etc.). Each location has an introduction to start off the chapter before the pictures and the descriptions.

The pictures are beautiful in and of themselves, but as someone who knows nothing about the Cold War, the descriptions are perfect and help give context. This book also gives great insight into how many of the remains still remain, even in places like Chernobyl.

Overall, I think this book did a great job traveling from location to location of the Cold War and taking you with it every step of the way. I think this would be a great coffee table book for any history nerd (like myself :)).

*I want to thank NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review*

Beautiful pictures and interesting texts, this was an excellent read and I think it will be a great coffee table book.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.