Books

Tom Clancy (1984) The Hunt for Red October , US uncorrected proof, published by Naval Institute Press. With the original scarce proof dust jacket announcing the title for Fall 1984. Condition: the proof is unread and unmarked in fine condition with no creasing to the spine and clean red wraps. The dust jacket has one short tear to the top spine fold and a little creasing. Otherwise in very nice condition with the hand inserted corrected word huge on the rear panel underneath the image of Clancy as called for. In October of 1984, The Naval Institute Press based in Annapolis, MD, released Tom Clancy s debut novel The Hunt for Red October. Published at the height of the Cold War the first printing of 14,000 copies sold out quickly. After it was endorsed by then US President Richard Reagan as unputdownable and as the perfect yarn the book quickly became a national bestseller. Copies of the book circulated in the White House and naval military crew, and altogether the hardback edition sold over 365,000 copies in addition to over four million paperback copies published by Berkley Books. Clancy conceived the idea after reading about a Soviet naval crew that attempted to defect in 1975. He wrote the manuscript during four months between November 1982 and February 1983 and sold the book to the Naval Institute Press for the modest sum of USD 5,000. The Hunt for Red October, like all of the author s subsequent novels, features an incredibly intricate web of plot, suspense and technical detail earning Clancy the title of master of the techno-thriller. Marko Ramius, the Soviet Navy s top submarine commander, has just taken control of the Red October. His mission is to test the submarine s new silent caterpillar drive. However, Ramius and his select group of officers are planning to drive the submarine to the coast of the United States and defect. When the Soviet Fleet begins to head full speed into the Atlantic, the Americans become worried. Soon, Jack Ryan, a CIA analyst discovers what Ramius is up to and his task is to coordinate the operation. Clancy s source for much of the technical detail was Ralph Ernest Chatham, a former submariner who became the book s dedicatee. Some navel officers became furious that Clancy would publish a book with all the information, but they were shown that everything in the book was not actually classified. In 1990, the novel was adapted as a Hollywood blockbuster film starring Sean Connery as Marko Ramius, and Alec Baldwin as Jack Ryan among other stellar cast directed by John McTiernan. First and Fine.

The Hunt for Red October is a technothriller by Tom Clancy. The story follows a Soviet submarine captain who wishes to defect to the United States along with his officers and the Soviet Navy's newest ballistic missile submarine, Red October. A CIA analyst named Jack Ryan is tasked with interpreting the defector's moves and intentions.