Silent and Unseen is a memoir of life aboard U.S. submarines in the early Cold War. Captain Alfred S. McLaren, a retired U.S. Navy officer, offers this survey as something of a prequel to his first book, Unknown Waters, which describes the exploration of the Siberian continental shelf when he was in command of USS Queenfish (SSN 651). However, the approach of the two books is very different. Silent and Unseen is more in the tradition of other autobiographies about Cold War submarining, such as Dan Conley's Cold War Command, which are becoming available as classification deadlines have expired. Rather than focusing on the missions undertaken, McLaren uses those missions to provide deeper insight into the men who served on the submarines and the unique but sometimes deadly nature of submarine life.
Recounting McLaren's experiences on three Cold War submarines over the years 1958–1965, Silent and Unseen is...