I can recommend two EXCELLENT books that touch on a lot of that sentiment you voiced. One of them is "Halsey's Typhoon" and the other is "Neptune's Inferno"."Neptune's Inferno"
(check out the link for a WSJ review of "Neptune's Inferno"...very good. The NYT probably never heard of it.)
If you are interested, both stories are extraordinary.
Thanks, I’ve had Neptune’s Inferno in my amazon shopping cart for weeks.