Rating: 
Summary: amazing story
Review: After a somewhat slow start, this book on Israel's 1981 raid on Iraq's nuclear reactor near Baghdad rapidly picks up speed, and the last hundred pages fly, as it were. Claire begins by setting the stage for the bombing of the Osirak reactor, and he is mostly successful. This is the only part of the book that drags, particularly a chapter on Saddam Hussein's biography, which I thought was unnecessary. In place of that section, I would have liked to have seen a chapter on the cabinet debate on whether to approve the raid; most officials supported it, but several key figures did not, and it would have been interesting to see their opposition fleshed out more.Once Saddam's background is covered, we get a glimpse of Mossad's shadowy activities to delay Osirak's going online--such as blowing up core elements in France and assassinating Iraqi scientists, also in France. From there, the pace accelerates, and we see the Israeli pilots training in F-16s in the US. We feel the tension build as the raid is scheduled then cancelled, scheduled again and postponed, and finally and firmly set to take place on June 7, 1981. The mission to al-Tuwaitha, just south of Baghdad, is one of the most gripping narratives I've read in a while. One complaint, though: the last two chapters were clumsily edited and proofread. Some mistakes are small, such as saying July when June is meant. Others are more glaring, like calling the National Security Council the National Security Administration (two very distinct entities) or mentioning that Sen. Lindsey Graham attended a party for David Ivry in summer 2001 when Graham was not a senator until January 2003. Nevertheless, this is an amazing story. Eight pilots in, eight out, and the reactor was destroyed. The bombing has been mentioned often this past year, with the tragic death of Ilan Ramon (the eighth pilot in the raid) in the Columbia disaster and the pre-emptive war against Iraq. The book is both timely and riveting.
Rating: 
Summary: Amazing, thrilling story, excellent read
Review: An amazing book!! Filled with background information on Saddam and Iraq, as well as a thrilling tale of how the Israeli's managed to plan and execute a covert mission to bomb Saddam's nuclear reactor. The author does an excellent job of bringing the Israeli Air Force pilots to life and manages to convey the importance and urgency they felt in accomplishing their mission. One of the best books I've read in years!!!
Rating:
Summary: Great Story Great Airforce
Review: As a big fan of the IAF, I really looked forward to reading more about this impressive mission. I am not a real fast reader, but I went through this book in three nights. I thought the author told a good story, but he lacked some of the technical knowledge some of the aviator types like myself notice. There were also quite a few errors about the IAF and some of the players. One example is that Iftach Spector is the top IAF ace with 15 kills and all of his kills were during the Yom Kippur War. No question that Iftach Spector is one of the great IAF pilots, but the top IAF ace and world record hold is Giora Even with 17 kills. "Raid On The Sun" is a very good read although Dan McKinnon's earlier book "Bullseye One Reactor" was much better on the technical issues based on his experience as a former Naval Aviatior...not USAF pilot.
Rating:
Summary: Good nonfiction historical work
Review: Claire tells this story with a minimum of techno-jargon even though there is page after page of information on airplanes and nuclear reactors. Actually the book seems to be written on newspaper reading level (8th grade-ish) so it's an easy, (although VERY gripping) read. Once you get started its difficult to put the book down because you get involved with the personalities (just like you would with a good work of fiction), and you are eager to know what's going to happen to them. It's a story of fighter pilots, politicians, anxious wives, nuclear scientists, spies, saboteurs and one ruthless dictator eager to get his hands on weapons-grade plutonium.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Reading
Review: Even though you know how it ends, this book was well written and held my attention from the beginning. I was so drawn in, I read it in one sitting.
Rating:
Summary: Great Read - Credible?
Review: I agree with the other reviewers. It is a captivating story and well worth the read. However, the author uses Victor Ostrovsky as a source of information on many occasions when discussing Mossad operations. Ostrovsky's credibility has been seriously questioned, in part by his former colleagues in the Mossad who have suggested he embellishes his stories to sensationalize and sell his own books. Further, the author lends credibility to the worst consipiracy theories about the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty in the '67 war. He states that "the Liberty was clearly flying U.S. colors and had a score of US Navy sailors on its topdeck," implying that the Israelis attacked with knowlege of the Liberty's origin. This and similar theories have been refuted in an excellent book by Judge Jay Cristol - "The Liberty Incident" - and by the recent declassification of the Israeli pilot radio transcripts from the attack. These two wrinkles lead me to question the credibility of the book's entire narative - though all in all, its a cool story.
Rating:
Summary: This is one of the best surprises I've read
Review: I didn't expect this book to be this good. It really reads like a short Tom Clancy thriller. It is a very good, detailed account of the planning, and covert operations of the attack. It has everything; secrecy, high stakes, behind the scenes, espionage, humor, and first hand accounts by all the participants. I remember hearing the attack on the evening news in 1981, but I can't believe how little the world has known about the details (many of which were wrong). To me, this book wasn't dull and dry, but very exciting and a fast read. It gives very good background without going into overwhelming, worthless details. I highly recommend it especially to those who are readers of aviation and military history. It sheds a floodlight on an all but forgotten world changing event.
(Also recommend) "Thunder Run: The Armor Strike to Capture Baghdad" & "Six Days of War"
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting, but too many errors
Review: I enjoyed this book, although it seemed that the author was trying to boost the page count by including extraneous details. The writing wouldn't pass muster either in a serious newspaper or in a writing class.
The part that bothered me the most was the lack of proofreading. For example, there's a description of the liftoff of the fully loaded fighters which talks about passing the 5000 meter mark on the runway. Even B-52 bombers don't require 5000 meters, much less fighter planes. [Diego Garcia, the US military base in the Indian Ocean has 2.25 mile runways for B-52s, which is only about 3.6km or 3600 meters.] As another example, there are several references to Ammunition Hill in Jerusalem (Givat Hatachmoshet) which is first mistransliterated as Givat Hatachmoshem and then mistranslated (although I can't recall the translation).
It's a fun read, but it would be better at half the length and twice the proofreading.
Rating:
Summary: A true page turner
Review: I was very impressed with this book. I thought it did an excellent job of covering all of the action (what Isreal was doing, what France was doing, what Iraq was doing, etc.).
The book itself is very enjoyable and it moves very fast.
My greater surprise is that this bombing hasn't been hashed about in the news (given the daily drone about the Iraq war). This raid, over 20 years ago, had an immense impact on what the entire world faces today. Had Isreal not taken this action, the world would be a very different place. The war against Iraq would have been far worse (possibly involving nuclear weapons). Jacques Chirack can kiss my . . . he would sell any arab country a nuclear reactor today, if the price was right (emphasis on the fact that arab countries don't need nuclear reactors).
I was surprised the author didn't politicize the issue. He made casual reference to world leaders expressing the above point, but that was the extent of it. In my opinion, a saparate book can be written about the political implications of this bombing (20 years after the fact).
Rating:
Summary: I was surprised
Review: On a recommendation I purchased "Raid on the Sun". I like politics but am not inclined toward military histories. I could not put the book down. The author handles all the political and diplomatic issues and contexts with ease and authority. His handling of the personalities of the pilots involved made them each interesting, not the least the "nicest guy", Ilan Ramon, who died in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster years later. I was surprised how much I enjoyed the recounting of the air raid itself. The author made this this military affair an exciting and suspenseful story, and all the technological issues were easy to understand while being comprehensive at the same time.
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