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!
Rating: 
Summary: Exhaustive, informative volume
Review: Rick Atkinson's work on the "behind the scenes" story of the Persian Gulf War is a first rate history of the commanders, politicians and soldiers of the war. He ably debunks the notion that this was a "clean war" as he describes how a disgustingly large number of American fatalities were the result of "friendly fire," how the military leaders were able to successfully inflate the numbers of Patriot missile "kills" and the amount of damage inflicted on the Iraqi Scud's. Atkinson covers all aspects of the conflict from basically the start of the "Air War" forward, only limited space is given to the Allied build-up and rationale for the original Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. But for an informative description of the war from all Allied points of view, this is a top notch book
Rating:
Summary: Exhaustive, informative volume
Review: Rick Atkinson's work on the "behind the scenes" story of the Persian Gulf War is a first rate history of the commanders, politicians and soldiers of the war. He ably debunks the notion that this was a "clean war" as he describes how a disgustingly large number of American fatalities were the result of "friendly fire," how the military leaders were able to successfully inflate the numbers of Patriot missile "kills" and the amount of damage inflicted on the Iraqi Scud's. Atkinson covers all aspects of the conflict from basically the start of the "Air War" forward, only limited space is given to the Allied build-up and rationale for the original Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. But for an informative description of the war from all Allied points of view, this is a top notch book
Rating:
Summary: Good strategical perspective of the campaign
Review: The author achieves to present a good story. He gives you a good insight on the strategical perspective of Gulf War in an uncommon way for the kind: straigthforward story telling. Essentials like logistics, deployment, build-up and theatre operations are well described. Naval, Air and Special Forces operations have their share in the book giving a complete picture of the Allied strategy in the Gulf War campaign. Personal experiences are included but are not the norm. The author has a good timing on jumping into the description of some specifical tactical action or a personal narrative. Atkinson shows himself as a good straightforward story teller. His narrative is easy to follow and he is capable of keeping the reader interested troughout the entire book.This book concentrates on campaign facts. It is not an analysis of Middle East politics. What remains untold is the Iraki's story. Like all wars we'll have to wait sometime before the looser's-point-of-view literature can be studied.
Rating:
Summary: Pulls no punches.
Review: The author is fair and just, both in his hard-hitting criticisms and in giving credit where it is due. It is actually somewhat rare to find a book about this war which goes into detail about both the air and ground operations, but it is done here, only 2 years after the war ended. It refreshed my memory on what I had forgotten and answers, "What ever happened with this or that event?" This one is a good buy.
Rating:
Summary: For military history buffs, this is a real page-turner.
Review: The straight poop on behind the scenes politics and decisions for Desert Storm.
Rating:
Summary: A great overview of the Gulf War.
Review: This book offers the reader a superb introduction into the details of the Gulf War. This book primarily discusses the US military buildup preceding the war, as well as the formulation of the war plans and their eventual execution. While the book does a great job of providing a general overview of the war, it does not offer much insight into the overall politics of the Middle East, nor does it deeply discuss Saddam's reasons and intentions for invading Kuwait. If you want a general overview of the war, and enjoy military history, pick up a copy of this book. It presents the grand themes of the war in a very readable, concise format.
Rating:
Summary: A great overview of the Gulf War.
Review: This book offers the reader a superb introduction into the details of the Gulf War. This book primarily discusses the US military buildup preceding the war, as well as the formulation of the war plans and their eventual execution. While the book does a great job of providing a general overview of the war, it does not offer much insight into the overall politics of the Middle East, nor does it deeply discuss Saddam's reasons and intentions for invading Kuwait. If you want a general overview of the war, and enjoy military history, pick up a copy of this book. It presents the grand themes of the war in a very readable, concise format.
Rating:
Summary: The most inciteful book about the Gulf War.
Review: This book places you in all the germaine capitals and on the battlefield at the same time. In a well organized fashion, the stratigic and tactical decisions become apparent. It is not just about the war, but the geopolitics surrounding the war. It is a must read for everyone from the mildly curious to the expert.
Rating:
Summary: If Only Tom Clancy Could Write a Novel Like This . . .
Review: This book reads like a Tom Clancy novel, but of course it is real. It is extremely well researched. Though I recall reading about many of these events in the news or watching them unfold on CNN, the author brings new insight to these events and pulls together the motivations of all the players. It gives the perspective of the guy in the tank eyeing the Republican Guard as well as the perspective of Bush's team in Washington trying to hold together the coalition forces. I highly recommend the book for any one who wants to understand what took place in the deserts of Kuwait and Iraq.
|
