Rating: 
Summary: Review of "Into the Storm: A Study in Command"
Review: This was a good book. It was a fancinating account of what a combat commander has to consider in all his deliberations while planning an attack or defense. The book follows Fred Frank's career from Vietnam, a VA hospital, to Desert Storm. It may bog down for some readers (like me at times) in the mechanics of tactics and strategy but it generally holds one's attention very well. One other point some may see as a detraction from the book is the Authors' tendancy to spend time rebutting what was written in General Scharzkopf's autobiography. The General was critical in some respects of General Frank's attack on the Republican Guard during Desert Storm. There is some obvious frayed feelings over this and it creeps into General Frank's writing. He makes a good case however. I would say it was well worth the price.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointed. One Man Show.
Review: This was NOT an overview of the weaponry, strategy, and tactics of Desert Storm, but one man's autobiography over 20 years. There is almost no coverage of anything that happened in that war save one general's point of view. He spends more time talking about his wife and family than he does giving a detailed comparison of the relative technical strengths of the tactics and weaponry of the two sides. This is partly because he prefers to chalk up the victory in a vague way to the virtue of the American fighting man and the American military establishment, rather than getting bogged down with little details like our tanks could shoot further than their tanks, our troops could see them when they couldn't see us. He talks lots and lots in high level terms about strategic manuever, which makes sense because that is the level that a Corps commander like himself operates at, but this in fact is very hard to follow because there are not adequate maps in the paperback to make sense of all this abstract hand-waving. There are no maps at all with the audio, which I read, and few with the paperback, I don't know about the hardcover. Since the book revolves around him personally and little else, we get precious little view of life at the bottom, of those actually doing the fighting. Indeed, the number one thing I was hoping to learn from the book, how on earth you cross a minefield under enemy fire, defeat that enemy, and blaze paths through it so you can move whole divisions through with SO FEW CASUALTIES went completely unanswered. No description of a battle is complete without a comprehensive rundown on the relative capabilities of the hardware involved, along with discussion of the tactics and intentions of both sides. Such discussion is woefully absent from this very long book. One point that General Franks did make (he wrote the book, Tom Clancy at most edited it) was that many pitched tank battles did occur, but since the military at the time was minimizing coverage of any form of death, real, imagined, or potential, all the public got to see was coverage of Iraqis surrendering in droves, so the public does not appreciate the determined resistance that was met in places, and the excellent fighting the military did. Well, my heart bleeds -- the military dug their own grave on that one, and it's up to them to climb out of it.
Rating: 
Summary: The title doesn't cover the story.
Review: Unfortunately, although I am sure Tom Clancy and Franks do try to give a spectator's view on the Gulf War too much time is spent on other aspects like Franks' military career which are interesting but are too elaborate.
Rating:
Summary: Well worth the effort to read!
Review: While not the average "Clancy" novel, this novel is insightful and an informative read. General Franks is a bonafide hero and served his country with honor and courage. His story and the story of the VII Corps needed to be told. Americans need to remember the debt we owe to the men and women who risk their lives so we can continue to enjoy our freedoms.
Rating:
Summary: True Insight Into the Gulf War
Review: With Into The Storm, Tom Clancy brings to the public a very necessary study of the unique qualities of Operation Desert Storm. As the First of an intended five books on the subject, Mr. Clancy decides on a successful format to tell the story of a war that surprised soldier and spectator alike. By discussing the military career of General Franks, and having the general contribute to the book, Tom Clancy provides an effective picture of how the events of the Gulf War unfolded. Some may criticize the inclusion of General Franks' military career as filler, but I see it as an insightful and key element if we are to fully understand what really happened. What makes the man does contribute to what made this war. I am a veteran of the Gulf War, and when I heard about this book being written I was truly excited. I saw a very small piece of what happened. I missed television coverage, the parades, and all of the speculation. With this book, I finally saw into the rationale of modern war craft from a commander's perspective. I knew what me and my unit was doing, and why, but not how we fit in to the larger plan. With this book I could see what I was missing at my level of operations. This book may never be required reading at the Army War College, but who knows, it just might. Tom Clancy has succeeded in providing a practical view of command which anyone can understand. given the unique nature of the Gulf War, this series of books promises to help explain why the war happened the way it did.
| 
