The Bear and The Dragon: Summary and book reviews of The Bear and The Dragon by Tom Clancy, plus links to an excerpt from The Bear and The Dragon and a biography of Tom Clancy.

Time and again, Tom Clancy's novels have been praised not only for their big-scale drama and propulsive narrative drive but for their cutting-edge prescience in predicting future events. In The Bear and the Dragon, the future is very near at hand indeed. Newly elected in his own right, Jack Ryan has found that being President has gotten no easier: domestic pitfalls await him at every turn; there's a revolution in Liberia; the Asian economy is going down the tubes; and now, in Moscow, someone may have tried to take out the chairman of the SVR--the former KGB--with a rocket-propelled grenade. Things are unstable enough in Russia without high-level assassination, but even more disturbing may be the identities of the potential assassins. Were they political enemies, the Russian Mafia, or disaffected former KGB? Or, Ryan wonders, is something far more dangerous at work here? Ryan is right. For even while he dispatches his most trusted eyes and ears, including black ops specialist John Clark, to find out the truth of the matter, forces in China are moving ahead with a plan of truly audacious proportions. If they succeed, the world as we know it will never look the same. If they fail...the consequences will be unspeakable. Blending the exceptional realism and authenticity that are his hallmarks with intricate plotting, razor-sharp suspense, and a remarkable cast of characters, this is Clancy at his best--and there is none better.

Media Reviews

The Dallas Morning News When the door blows open and the shooting starts, nobody does it better than Tom Clancy.   Publishers Weekly Each thread carries a handbook's worth of intoxicating, expertly researchedDseemingly insideDinformation, about advanced weapons of war and espionage, about how various governments work, complemented always with ponderings about the tensions between individual honor and the demands of state. Add to that the excitement for Clancy fans of this being the first novel to feature not just Jack Ryan but also, in significant subordinate roles, Jack Clark and Ding Chavez of Rainbow Six and other tales, and you've got a juggernaut that's going to hit #1 its first week out and stay there for a good while.

Recent Reader Reviews

Rated of 5 by Byteskat
Good Read
An exciting, intricate, detailed (hence the 1000 pages) story. I give it a four only due to some sloppy editing. A number of reviewers have criticized the "conservative propaganda" of this book, esp. the anti-abortion theme. Other...   Read More

Rated of 5 by Ryan Tumbler
Getting worse...
As I indicated in my last review, Clancy went bad in "Rainbow Six." In this book, he gets worse. The plot; very unlikely. Very contrived. Very predictable for anyone who's read TC before - "Red Storm Rising" was the same basic story told with...   Read More

Rated of 5 by C-3PO, human-cyborg relations
Baaaaaaaaaaad stuff...
Oh my God! How do you even begin to describe this book? One of the most god-awful pieces of propaganda ever written, and the fact that almost all of Clancy's previous books were so well-written and thought out only makes this one that much...   Read More

Rated of 5 by matt
great story

Rated of 5 by Ravi
One lenghty, boring book I had to finish since I started it. Thought it might get interesting in the end since he built up a huge plot with so many characters. Fizzled out totally in the end. It seemed like it was more of a republican, and defence...   Read More

Rated of 5 by Punisher
This book is very descriptive and very informing on war an politics. I liked it.

...43 More Reader Reviews

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