This book reads great like a fictional novel. Why ? Its sources are contradicted by many other books on the subject.

A reader from Bend, Oregon On second thought, after looking more closely at Grossman's work, I see what a marvelous and spectacular book it is. I will recommend it to all my friends as a fantastic source on the Persian Gulf War.

Dr. George Byrnes, University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee I am a professor of history, and I can say that this is one of the finest works on the Persian Gulf War I have come across. I read Harry Summers' "Persian Gulf War Encyclopedia," and while I was impressed with its handling of subjects, and giving a broad overview of the conflict, Grossman's war far exceeds Summers and then some. Grossman's work, without me being facetious, is fantastic. His knowledge of the subject, his use of biographical material not found every day, and his cross-references, as well as the major use of documents, graphs, tables, and other ephemera to describe the war and its history is just plain amazing. I was in awe of this work. And any amateur picking it up for the first time, just to get a primer on the subject, will find themselves in awe as well.

Hyped as being tip-top hardboiled noir, but I found it nothing special. Ex-Marine comes back to Southern hometown to find old flame married to a swindler. Everybody's greedy, sleeping with each other, and so on. You can guess where it heads from there...

Mr. Watts, I think you're an exceptional writer...This book is incredible. I would love to get an option on it or on "Cons," but the last time I checked...someone already had an option. I've made several films(shorts) one 33 minutes long--The Death Pages, won 1997 Worldfest Charleston and I acted/produced another for approx. $200K (not my money,of course). I called your agent Innovative Artists and they always tell me "Cons" is taken...maybe their option will run out one day and you'll give me a shot. I love your work and I can't wait to see what you do next. Maybe it'll be a film with me.

Went out and got my copy (like I said in my Cons review) and finished it in two days! What great follow-up. This book moves from start to finish and the characters keep you hooked. You feel like you are along for the ride. This would make a great movie (along the lines of Pulp Fiction).

How can so many people be wrong? Having become immersed in the Walters family experiences the fascination never wanes. But still the question remains - where are the decent photos? An engrossing read (if in a somewhat basic English) and another must for all ufologists and more. I need to get hold of more of the Walters books

Well let me start out by saying the the ufo mania is kinda wierd. I mean everyone and his uncle has seen a UFO right??? The book itself was ok. It was the testimony of one man that convinced me that this was the real deal. His name was Brandon Wheeler. He drove a white Chevy Nova. He was a busboy. You don't get anymore honest than this guy. I was curious so I decided to look him up on my next trip to Pensacola. I found him at a bar called Flounder's. He was drinking a Diesel Fuel, a local drink in a mason jar. He recounted the story in the book and then after a 3rd Diesel Fuel, he told me of another experience he had. He said he was home alone when his phone rang. It was a friend of his mother's. She asked him to look go outside and tell her if he could see what she saw. He went out and he told her he saw it. He desrcibed what he saw to me as a flying glowing Cheerio, not your Applecinnamon type Cheerio it was more of the plain version, just flying and glowing. Then he told me he saw pods coming out of this Cheerio. They looked as if they were landing behind his house in the woods. As Brandon told the story he got a scared look in his eyes. Then he told me of the nightmares that followed. Nightmares of anal probes and cross breeding with sheep. He then said he had to go and he stumbled out of the bar and I never saw him again. He is still there. Look for him and ask him to tell the story. He still has the Chevy Nova.......

He tells, in this(His second of three books) of being abducted by the aliens many many times, and that, contrary to many crazies, that they arent here for any spiritual crap. He wards those who yell HOAX! extremely well, presenting the evidence. Thank you for reading.

Take a sunny 4th of July, hamburgers grilling in the backyard, a cold beer at hand. You sit down and chew the fat with a man who flew Hornets for the Marines during the Gulf war. He tells you his stories from an anecdotic point of view. Put that chat into a book and you get "Hornets over Kuwait". It does not put you "in the cockpit", not lay any literary claim. It dose leave you though with the pleasant feeling of a friendly Holiday chat.

Its not a pretentious book, and its not a complete history of the region, but it gives a good feel for the problems and solutions faced by the F18 Hornets during the Gulf War. It illustrates everything that has to go on, to make the package work. Very good on tactics.

From my point of view, this is a very entertaining book about the Gulf War. The author share with us the life at the battle field on the gorund & up in the air flying. The author said all about what he & his team mates do when not flying any mission & this was really entertaining & fun. Further more, the most interesting part is about the missions that the author flew which most of them are bombing mission & telling us the danger that they faced & the enjoyment after hitting their targets. Actually, this book is just like the dairy of the author, telling us everything he had been doing during the Gulf War. Although there isn't any air to air combat, it's still very interesting because of the amazing bombing missions that he & his team mates flew together. Further more, they were using the FLIR(Forward looking infra-red) pod to find there targets in the dark. The author is flying the F/A-18A Hornet from VMFA-451 Worlords at that time. They were also join by others Marines fighter squadrons too & have been working together during the war. Surprisingly, the Marines perform more strike missions than the Navy did & that's very impressing. I may have said a lot of interesting stuff but you'll have to read it to find out for yourself & I'm sure whoever bought this book will enjoy it a lot, just like I did. You just got to read this book & that's all I can say.

A disappointing third entry in this series. A new character and good action in the first chapter and a big pause for the rest of the book. The villain and his motives are obvious long before our two heroes catch on. Let's hope for better the next time.

The novel starts with a 40-page out-of-place chapter as PI Jack Delmas and Sheriff's Deputy Jimbo McInnis spend a night on the town. Jimbo majored in football at Mississippi State University where he was a starting lineman. After drinking tequila shooters, Jimbo has a way of picking fights, e.g., going into a redneck bar filled with Univ. of Alabama fans and criticizing Bear Bryant's trademark hat ("What French Quarter queer joint you reckon he was cruising when he found that..."). The next morning he can't remember the brawl, doesn't know why he has a sore foot and mud all over his pickup, and he has a massive hangover.

The story then flashes back to the start when Jack was hired by a woman to determine why her daughter, along with three other young people, was murdered in a summer cabin on Dauphine Island. Matters are complicated when Jack's ex-wife runs her mouth about Jack's case. She only told her friend on Dauphine Island, but that was like telling the tabloids. Jack receives a death threat before he half begins his inquiries. The 220 pages following Chapter One are divided into 26 additional chapters.

The case involves possible smuggling, sports betting, environmental fanatics, various local watering holes with hard-drinking pool-playing rednecks, and assorted women (Jimbo is usually on the prowl). The reader learns various details about Jack's past life, and his incompatibility with his ex-wife - their preferred lifestyles are a mismatch (he was from a family of shrimpers and boat builders and played baseball at Ole Miss, she was a Rebelette from a cotton-planting banking family in higher society). Jack's ex- is jealous of the new women in his life, particularly if they have a bigger bust than she has.

The novel has an interesting plot, and contains helpful maps of Dauphine Island and the Mobile County, Alabama area. It will probably be of particular interest to people familiar with the Gulf Coast.

If you are new to Martin Hegwood, this is where to start. Other novels in the series are better than fair and worth the time( I prefer Green-Eyed Hurricane), but the necessary set-up information is here. Jack Delmas, divorced drop-out banker, private eye ( why are these P.I.s always retreads?) mixes with smugglers and bombers in an island setting in the company of a good ole boy "bubba" deputy sheriff with a high wheeled, swamp truck. Tavern brawls, parties with Jack's ex-wife's pre face lift crowd, and a next door group of costal undergraduates on weekend binge duty spice up an island inspired plot. This is a quick read, traditional who done what, that moves to a neatly prepared conclusion. Perfect book for a long plane ride or day at the beach.

This is just another book that tries to blame radiation for something bad, in this case Gulf War Syndrome. The anti nukes cast about for something bad and then find the nearest man-made radiation source. BINGO, that particular man-made radiation caused the problem.

This book has 28 chapthers, each by a different author, each grinding his/her own axe - usually the same old tired (and wrong) argument that man-made radiation causes whatever evil is the subject of the day.

In this book, the anti-nukes exploit our veterans to push their own agenda. Shame on them.

Metal of Dishonor is mandatory reading for anyone interested in learning the truth about the lengths the government will go to dominate the world. This is part of the so-called New World Order, under which the gap between rich and poor has spread even wider.

Iraq was just one victim of this global aggression cloaked in phony platitudes about preserving democracy and human rights.

U.S. troops, as always, are just cannon fodder. The people or Iraq, who were also victimized by the use of depleted uranium are viewed as being less than human in order to justify attacking them.

Reminds you of how racism was used to justify the trade in African people who were enslaved.

Another excellent book by Clark. Ask yourself if the our government has ever lied to us or ever kept the facts from us...and you'll see why metal of dishonor isnt promoted by our political intelligensia, its a book for people who have consciousness, not some so called patriots whose tribalistic nationalism refuses to acknowledge that the US committed crimes against humanity in the Middle East and beyond.

No read book. "Just" a collection of facts. Maybe the ultimate fact finding tool for professionals, but I was very disappointed by the low "entertainment value" of this book. In this sense you'll find r-Gen. Schwarzkorpf's book on the other end of the scale.

The amount of information included in this single volume is staggering! All of the official U.S. service histories are found here, along with all primary, and most secondary Coalition forces. The author also included as much Iraqi information as possible from Coalition intelligence services. If there is a weak area this understandably is it, with Saddam being uncooperative. Still, Iraqi Order of Battle information is surprisingly complete, along with many interesting facts including Iraqi officer biographies.

This book saved me a great deal of time and money in my research, and I cannot endorse it enough.

Eschewing political history and detail, this book concerns itself solely with military actions and fact. Aiming especially to clarify ground actions, much space is also spent on naval and air operations, in that order. A great deal of effort was obviously spent to be as comprehensive as possible. For example, the book lists the captain of every coalition ship, as well as many of their biographies in a special section at the back. Facts like these are hard to come by, and are one of the it's greatest strengths. This book is simply the best book on the subject.

In The Ottoman Gulf, Frederick F. Anscombe sets out to show the inaccuracy of the thought that Britain was the main force behind the creation of the Persian Gulf's Arab states. Anscombe indicates the responsibility of the Ottoman Empire and its operations in Arabia as the central factor behind the development of the states of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait. Instead of the conventional notion that Britain always intended to establish its influence and gain dominance in the region, Anscombe argues that it was rather the Ottoman rule of the area that led to the formation of the states. As Anscombe states in his introduction, "...if the Ottomans had governed the mainland effectively, Britain would not have become entangled in the territories that were to become the states of Kuwait, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia...the British were drawn, often unwillingly and even unwittingly, into mainland politics" (3).
Anscombe begins his narrative by tracing the causes for the renewed Ottoman interest in the Arabian Peninsula that arose during the 1870s. Istanbul felt that it needed to reassert its right to rule over the area so that a Wahhabi insurrection could be avoided and so that the Ottoman governance of the area north of the Peninsula, such as Iraq and Syria, could be protected from the raiding tribes that achieved were so prevalent in the Peninsula in the late 19th century. However, as Anscombe also points out, the Ottomans did feel competition from the British in the region. But Anscombe describes that this competition was fictitious and created much more by Ottoman insecurity than actual British interest and action.
The author then proceeds to cover the Ottoman take of the region of Hasa and the subsequent governance of Midhat Pasha in the area. Anscombe looks very favorably upon the programs of Pasha and believes that if Pasha had been allowed to stay in power for a longer period of time, his program would have succeeded in subduing the tribal problems that disrupted Ottoman rule. As Anscombe writes, "Midhat may have been an optimist, yet his visions were not beyond reason" (37) and states later of Pasha's plan to implement taxes on the region and promote agricultural development that, "If implemented as planned, the new economic, administrative, and social regimes would have been marked improvements on the decaying institutions of the Wahhabi era...His successors did not build on his initiatives, and the upheavals that were soon to strike the empire distracted Istanbul's attention for the remainder of the decade. The bad effects of official neglect were to appear within several years of Midhat's departure from Baghdad in 1872" (53).
In the following chapters, Anscombe portrays the numerous problems that eventually caused Ottoman rule to fail in the Arabian Peninsula. Anscombe places the blame for this failure squarely on the Ottomans and the financial difficulties. He writes, "As a result of the empire's extreme financial troubles in the period, anything that was to be attempted in Hasa was to be done cheaply. Money was not to be invested there, it was to be extracted. In such a harried atmosphere, political efficiency received as little attention as the economy. Consequently, little trace of Midhat's plans survived, and when challenges to the Ottomans' position rose thickly in the 1890s, they found that it rested on a fatally flawed foundation" (55). Thus, it was not the British, but rather the Ottomans that are at fault for the turmoil in the Persian Gulf states from the late 19th century until the outbreak of WWI. Incredibly corrupt Ottoman officials attempted to extract taxes from the local population that created a great deal of resentment to the Ottoman presence in the area. The Ottomans dug their own grave. Bribes amongst officials were common and such horrible governors as Bazi only caused hatred for Ottoman influence in the Peninsula.
Anscombe is able to effectively close his narrative and prove his thesis by following Mubarak's insurrection in Kuwait. Anscombe dispels the contention that Mubarak's success came from long and developed British involvement in his revolt. Rather, the author illustrates how it took a great deal of time and pressure to finally get the British to support Mubarak and it was the inability of the Ottomans to deal with Mubarak that was the true cause of the upheaval's success. Anscombe even goes so far as to state in his conclusion that, "On the whole, Britain's experience in the Gulf prior to the war was positive, especially when compared to the mixed fortunes of the Ottomans" (173). While a slightly more comprehensive dealing with history prior to 1870 would help the strength of Anscombe's objective, he is able to convey in a limited number of pages a very compressive survey of the region. The portrait he paints of the Persian Gulf states prior to 1914 is one of disorder and chaos chiefly due to the Ottoman inability to govern effectively in the region.
Overall, Anscombe is very successful in showing how Ottoman, and not British influence, was the direct cause of the states in the Arabian Peninsula. By chronicling the ineptitude of Ottoman governance in the region and highlighting the financial difficulties that limited the amount of control the Ottomans could exert of the area, Anscombe is able to contradict convincingly the notion of British superiority of influence in the history of the Persian Gulf states. While the author does not ignore the obvious impact of British influence after World War I and the discovery of oil deposits in the region, he points out the lack of intention and planned involvement in the affairs of Arabia that British showed before 1914. The inability of the Ottomans to control tribal factions and institute a government that appeased the people of the region was a much more significant factor to political development in Arabia than any pre-1914 British involvement. Responsibility for the Ottoman loss of the Arabian Peninsula rests solely with Ottoman inadequacy and blame directed at outside sources is only an attempt to divert this responsibility. Anscombe's analysis of the history behind the formation of the states is entirely successful in highlighting this responsibility of the Ottomans for their Empire's own problems and failing reign in the region.

The modern history of the Persian Gulf has been the subject of several published studies, most notably those of J.B. Kelly and Briton Cooper Busch. The perspective of those works was, however, decidedly Anglocentric, relying heavily on British documents from the Foreign and India Offices. Frederick Anscombe offers a new perspective; he relies largely on the Ottoman archives, though the standard English language works are by no means ignored.

Anscombe is particularly interested in the economic factors which hindered Ottoman attempts to subjugate the eastern Arabian littoral (largely, between Qatar and Kuwait) during the period 1870-1914. The initial impetus for the Ottoman policy of asserting control over this largely autonomous area was provided by the British. The Ottomans were concerned that British obsession with maintaining the routes to India would result in attempts to establish hegemony over the Gulf (in which the British already had a large presence), Arabia and Kuwait. These fears had some justification during the last quarter of the 19th century and the early years of the 20th. But the Ottoman plan for bringing eastern Arabia under tighter control was doomed from the outset, because however well-conceived the plans for doing so, the Ottomans had neither the economic strength nor the will to bring their plans to fruition.

Al-Hasa, the province of eastern Arabia bordering the Gulf, had little to offer the Ottomans in the way of economic return. This meant that the reforms, the communications infrastructure and, ultimately, the political dependence which the Ottomans intended to establish in the region would have to be funded by the Porte. With external pressure already being brought to bear in more strategically significant areas, such as the Balkans, Hasa ranked very low on the Ottoman list of priorities. This over-arching point has been made by Kelly, Busch and others, but Anscombe's study offers confirming evidence from the Ottoman perspective.

Anscombe's text of 173 pages is accompanied by some rough and unhelpful maps, ill-situated in the text. The 60 pages of endnotes contain many interesting substantive points, some of which would have been better woven into the text.

The Ottoman Gulf is suited to students of modern Ottoman history, the modern Middle East and the British Empire. For these readers, Anscombe has provided a valuable study.

Anscombe does an excellent job of balancing the predominant British viewpoint of Persian Gulf history with his original research in the Ottoman Imperial Archives. He gives an interesting and readable perspective, not only to 19th century history, but also to how this continues to affect the Gulf, and much of the rest of the world, today.

The book covers quite a bit of the build up before combat. The begining covers some interesting history of the Gulf and it's oil production. This helps us fully understand what brought us to war there in the 90's. Most of it concerns operational/longistical aspects of the Sheild/Storm. I would have given it 5 stars for glossy pages, more photos, and more detailed operational descriptions of the navy ship's day to day action in the gulf, especially the Battleships. I've read some of these stories in other books. One thing I can say is that it changed my mind on a lot of things that I incorrectly remembered about watching the war on TV.

This is an overall thorough, but very dry account of the US Navy's involvement in the Persian Gulf War. The authors, as part of the Naval Historical Center, obviously had incredible access to firsthand sources, and it shows. It does offer some good insights and presents a "warts and all" perspective at times.

The book opens with a brief and useful historical overview of the Navy's presence in the Gulf and the run up to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. While the story of how the US Military arrived at its plan to fight the war is interesting, the account of the logistics of the buildup is somewhat tedious. I realize logistics are the backbone of any military operation; but it just wasn't that interesting except as part of an official history.

The authors deserve credit for addressing the problems the Navy faced: a lack of integration with the other services, infighting among the Generals (Army and USAF) and Admirals, and an ill-conceived mine laying operations that cost two pilots their lives, for example. It avoids being "whiney" about slights during the air campaign from an Air Force dominated air warfare command structure, yet is somewhat bogged down in details about tasking orders and control systems.

This book will probably only be interesting to the more die hard Naval historian and students of Joint Military Operations for lessons learned. For a good account of modern Naval Warfare, I would be more inclined to recommend Admiral Sandy Woodward's "One Hundred Days" about the Falklands War.

I actually have a paper copy published prior to this one by GPO (I think). If anyone is worried about price, they may want to investigate purchasing that edition. Great book. It's nice to read about the Naval part of the war instead of just the Army part. Notice in most books, there isn't even a map showing the gulf itself - just the land masses!

I purchased the book hoping that it was a first person account of a Pacific WWII destroyer officer who was involved in much of the action prior to 1944. About 25% of the book is truly that and was exactly what I had hoped for. I really enjoyed his description of the people and organization and functioning of the USS Maurie. This and the physical descriptions of the power plants and related systems are also unique in my reading experience.

The Author,however, also attempts to interleave in the narrative a history of the surface actions in the South Pacicfic theater in 1942-1943. It appears that he liberally summarizes the Morrison hisory "Breaking the Bismark Barrier" without adding much if anything and deleting a lot. The presentation is certainly mechanical. Even the charts are cheap reproductions from the Morrision book.

For some reason the author does not describe his experinces with the destroyer from Pearl Harbor through Midway and etc. This to me would be much more interesting than a repeat of a book I have read several times and a lengthy discussion of the fallacies of the US torpedo program that thousands of authors have already covered ad nauseum. The torpedo problem was,though, a hugely important issue. What the author did add was that prior to the battle at Vella Gulf, he insisted that the Maurie's torpedo depth settings be set to mininum to compensate for faulty controls. This truly may have had a significant effect on the outcome of the battle.

This is the best account of destroyer actions in the Solomon Islands I have read; written from an authoritative viewpoint and filled with technical insights that could only have been furnished by someone who was there. If you find Roscoe enthralling but leaving you wishing for more detail, your book has arrived. Thank you, Capt. Crenshaw, for writing it.

In addition to his eye witness knowledge as Gunnery Officer and XO aboard USS MAURY(DD-401), CAPT Crenshaw is apparently an expert in Naval Science. The accurate technical detail excels that normally found in this type of book. "Snipes" and "Techs" will be impressed and entertained. The history is well researched and written with consummate skill, approaching that of John Lundstrom. I just wish he had written more.