A real-life national security style thriller, rich in research and detail, A Time to Die portrays the Kursk nuclear submarine disaster, with all the excitement, immediacy and dramatic action of bestsellers such as A Perfect Storm and Black Hawk Down.

At 11:30 a.m. on August 12, 2000, two massive explosions shook the icy Arctic waters of the Barents Sea. The Kursk, one of the largest and most technologically advanced nuclear subs in the world, carrying a crew of 118 sailors, rapidly crashed to the ocean floor. Most of us still remember how the news of this terrible accident was reported around the world, and the agonizing tension of the days when the doomed crew waited for rescue, while the Russians seemed to be turning away all international offers of help -- until it was too late.

Award-winning journalist Robert Moore has written a thrilling and authoritative investigative account of these events. Here are the stories of families desperate for answers, Russian officials, international rescue teams, and U.S. submarine crews monitoring the Kursk's movements. Moore not only recreates the terrifying final moments of the doomed submarine and its crew, but also explores what led up to the catastrophe, as well as the myriad issues raised by it. For example, readers will learn how the Cold War is still being waged beneath the world's oceans; the truth behind the Russian claims of a collision with an American sub; and how Russian leaders fiercely debated how to respond to the humiliating loss of the submarine. Above all, Moore uses empathy and understanding to tell us what went on below the depths and behind the scenes of a maritime tragedy.


From the Hardcover edition.