Rating: 
Summary: Not a Definitive History, but Compelling
Review: For fifteen years the specter of Vietnam hung over the United States military. After finally devising a way to bow out of the Southeast Asian quagmire with honor, the administration of President Richard M. Nixon was eventually brought down by the scandal of Watergate. Even the failure of its Cold War nemesis, the former Soviet Union, in a similar debacle in Afghanistan, could not dilute the embarrassment of Vietnam in the American consciousness. The invasion of Kuwait by Saddam Hussein's Iraqi forces on 2 August 1990, would give the United States both the opportunity to win a conventional military victory and produce great soldier-heroes such as those that had emerged from more popular wars of the past. That is the underlining thesis of Rick Atkinson's _Crusade: The Untold Story of the Persian Gulf War_. Atkinson argues that aside from the obvious objectives of liberating the Kuwaiti oil fields and protecting America's vital interests in the Middle East, the conflict would produce two important subtle consequences. First it would provide a victory to restore prestige to a military establishment haunted by the ghosts of Vietnam. Second, and more importantly, a victory in the Persian Gulf would provide America with old-fashioned military and political heroes the likes of which had not been seen since the tumultuous parades down New York's Fifth Avenue following Japan's surrender in World War II. The heroes America needed and the media helped to create were General H. Norman Schwarzkopf and President George H.W. Bush. Atkinson portrays Schwarzkopf, arguably the most flamboyant American general since Lt. Gen. George S. Patton Jr., as raging and abusive. Written with a "you are there" approach, the author describes many top-level briefings between Schwarzkopf and his subordinates. A common theme is Schwarzkopf's accusatory bantering that his orders were deliberately disobeyed. Many of these diatribes were aimed at with a great deal of disrespect for U.S. VII Corps commander General Frederick M. Franks. Acknowledging the frustration associated with the burden of command, however, Atkinson concedes that perhaps some of Schwarzkopf's outbursts may have been justifiable. Atkinson initially portrays Bush as an "extraordinary commander." The author credits Bush's campaign to gain support of the American people by demoralizing the militaristic regime of Saddam Hussein as brilliant. Atkinson illustrates how Bush's hero status quickly diminished, however, when the president ended the war prematurely allowing the Iraqi forces to escape and failed to remove Saddam Hussein from power. Utilizing his highly regarded journalistic talent, sprinkled with a sampling of sensationalism, Atkinson examines nearly every controversy of the war. These topics include: the high degree of fratricide among U.S. Service personnel, the reasons for faulty U.S. Intelligence reports that habitually overestimated enemy strength, and the many questions surrounding just how effective were "Smart Bombs." Atkinson also delves into inter-service rivalries, particularly between the Air Force and the Army. He suggests the two services inflated their own roles concerning the conduct of the war. According to Atkinson, this over glamorizing was done in an effort to highlight the importance of their respective services in order to gain the appropriate postwar funding and budgets. The author was privy to certain principal sources during the course of his research. Some documents were declassified just for the purpose of writing of this book through the Freedom of Information Act. The author also was allowed access to the unpublished manuscript of the Official U.S. History of the Persian Gulf War. This is not the definitive history of the first Persian Gulf War, but Atkinson's spin on important issues makes for a compelling read.
Rating: 
Summary: Great reading for factual military adventure.
Review: For those who like the genre of Tom Clancy or Dale Brown, but are frustrated with the implausible, here is a book that is hard to put down, and yet is real life! From inside the cockpit of the Apache attack force that fired the first shots of the war, to the White house, where you sit with President Bush and his war council, here is an exciting inside look of the Gulf War from the perspective of those who planned and fought it. Many of us who were there were too busy with our own areas of work to be aware of the totality of the war effort. Rick Atkinson's fine work put it together for me. This book is a must for anyone who thinks Desert Storm was a cake walk. From prisoners of war, to the largest tank battles since WWII, you will feel the tension. I just wish he wrote more.
Rating:
Summary: Exciting And Well Written
Review: I am ashamed to admit that this excellent book sat on my bookshelf for a number of years while I read untold numbers of lesser books. I had heard it was a good book, which was the reason I purchased it, and it turns out that everything positive that lead me to buy the book was in fact true. The first thing that stood out for me was that this author is very good at his craft. I almost forgot I was reading a non fiction book at times because his writing style provided the excitement and richly detailed descriptions that you would normally associate with a fiction book. The author details the Gulf War in such a way that almost exclusively focuses on the actual war and not the lead up to the combat nor the political efforts that played out. He does touch on some political aspects, but only when they are needed to augment the readers understanding of what was happening in the war theater.
The one interesting side story in the book was the authors dislike for Norman Schwarzkopf. The critiques were always within the realm of how he did his job, but there was just something about them that let the reader in on the fact that not too many people that worked with the General much cared for his management style. Other then this slight bias the author stuck to the facts and really gave the reader a good amount of detail on the war effort. It was interesting to read of the many battles. I have read a number of books about different aspects of the war, but this was the first one that really covered all the major battles and I came away surprised at some of the scale that was described. We have all heard that the war was a complete and overwhelming victory, but that positive view hides some of the very violent and large battles that took place.
Overall I really enjoyed the book. The author did a wonderful job and I can honestly say that this is one of the better combat books that I have ever read. The details were never ending and the writing was crisp and well thought out. If you are interested in the war then this has to be the one book your read if you are interested in the combat. The only partial critique I would make is that the author spent the vast amount of his time talking about the American military and really did not cover much of what was happening with the other countries involved. Given the size and responsibilities of those other forces, this focus on the U.S. is understandable.
Rating:
Summary: I was in the air, over there, and this book is a shack!
Review: I flew combat sorties in OPERATION DESERT STORM and this book correctly details the microcosism of my involvement in the conflict. While Mr. Atkinson does not detail all of the contributions of my weapons platform, he does go into as much detail as anyone else has. What he does write in this book, he is right on target.He also is able to show some of the human side of the story, and not just the technical aspects of it. Overall, the book is very easy to read, and I did not wish to put it down until I finished it. Adding the technical merit and accuracy of the volume makes it the best overall text on OPERATION DESERT STORM I know of. Other texts take a more technical view of portions of the campaign, but none top Crusade.
Rating:
Summary: From one who was there
Review: I must say with all honesty, that this book covers the War about as best as one can who was not one of the combatants. I should know as I was there and our little, but critical, portion of the conflict was covered with expertise. I was involved in the "Battle for 73 Easting", and Mr. Atkinson did justice to the Men who fought and died on that Feb day. I was the driver of G-16 , 1st plt Ghost Troop, 2nd Sqdn 2nd Armored Cav, and was referred to in the book. This book helped me realize what a important role we did play in this conflict. Although the situation wasn't completely resolved, I feel pround to have fought and defended Freedom. Even if it was a small part. I recommend this book for all who really what to know the good and the bad that went along with our Victory.
Rating:
Summary: Golden
Review: I ordered this book shortly after the 9/11 attack, anticipating another land battle in the Middle East. I wanted to know what to expect if our forces were moved in in any great numbers. Crusade provided exactly that information by providing me with a clear documentation of the Gulf War. Despite the differences between the two wars, I still found the book helpful. Rick Atkinson's style is a lot like Sebastian Junger's (The Perfect Storm). It's almost like reading a very long newspaper article, except that Atkinson keeps it interesting. My only complaint is that he relies too heavily on what appears to be a list of crutch words. These should fairly pop out at you, but they do not really take away from the quality of his writing. Unless of course, you are looking for creative merit. Creativity is not a part of the book. It is a complete record of the facts, as well as Atkinson's opinion's as they relate. I give this book full marks.
Rating: 
Summary: Crusade: Review
Review: I read this book, but found the usage and selection of "$1.00" words disrupting and un-neccesary. The content has the possibility to be a real star, but sometimes ventured off track. I would recomend this book, but warn the reader to get out the dictionary. Jerry Brightman
Rating:
Summary: Superb Account (in this Gulf War veteran's eyes)
Review: I think this is the best book about the Gulf War available. I'm a Gulf War veteran but suffered from a "worm's eye" view of what was going on while I was there. "Crusade" gave me the big and little picture. About the only thing negative I can say is that I do not agree with the author's conclusion that the decision to end the ground war was the right one or as he put it "durable." I think that events of the last nine years have shown how great a mistake it was to stop early and let the Iraqis out of the bag. Maybe if we had said "public opinion be damned" and pressed forward for a few more days, Saddam might have lost too much of his military forces to keep him in power. And Schwarzkopf deserves a big raspberry for his prima donna behvior during the conflict. Our press made him out to be some kind of "teddy bear" military genius when the truth was far from that.
Rating: 
Summary: Appreciation of reader comments
Review: I very much appreciate the generous and shrewd comments posted by several readers. I also must agree that information has emerged since CRUSADE appeared in 1993 that would have informed the book. On the other hand, it seems to me that the recent confrontation with Iraq confirmed much of my analysis of five years ago. At any rate, a grateful author says 'thanks' to the many diligent readers who have written to me over the years.
Rating:
Summary: My Highest Recommendation
Review: In my opinion, Atkinson surpasses Stephen Ambrose as military historian extraordinaire, and I'm an Ambrose fan! From the moment I read the first paragraph of the first page of this book, I thought, "Wow, Atkinson can write!" The work was gripping throughout, and read like a novel. No wonder Atkinson won a Pulitzer for his previous work: he has an amazing gift for conveying historical fact in captivating prose. Equally amazing is the amount of research that went into this tome: a glance at the endnotes is sufficient to know that this book must have consumed Atkinson's life for several years. Along with Ambrose's "Band of Brothers" and Antony Beevor's "Fall of Berlin 1945," I would say this is the best work of military history that I have read . . . in fact, I would rank it first with Beevor's "Berlin" book. And you don't need to be a soldier to understand the book; it's clearly devised, with explanations for the layperson, and the maps are incredible. My only wish while reading the book was for a supplement that showed, for example, what an F-111 looked like, so that I wouldn't confuse it with an F-117; but this is my only criticism, and a minor one at that. You can always look up such weaponry on the Internet. Now I can't wait to read Atkinson's "An Army at Dawn," which I have waiting on my bookshelf!
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