This is an interesting, and very readable study of the problems that have caused major declines within the New England groundfishing industry, and how 2 seperate, but equally interested parties can view a subject so differently. It presents the case in a middle of the road view and throws the blame for the problem at both groups. If you ever wondered why the price of fish has become prohibitive, or how a major eco-system can be destroted while everyone talks, this is a book well worth reading. It is written in language that non-scientitsts can understand and enjoy.

This is an interesting, and very readable study of the problems that have caused major declines within the New England groundfishing industry, and how 2 seperate, but equally interested parties can view a subject so differently. It presents the case in a middle of the road view and throws the blame for the problem at both groups. If you ever wondered why the price of fish has become prohibitive, or how a major eco-system can be destroted while everyone talks, this is a book well worth reading. It is written in language that non-scientitsts can understand and enjoy.

Haykal's book on the Gulf War is written from admittedly biased source. While it is useful and contains backround information not found elsewhere, Haykal either deliberately lies or exaggerates in a number of instances. He also alludes to sources that cannot be disclosed for safety purposes.

Interesting reading but take it with a peck of salt.

An excellent book, written by an Arab intellectual. It gives accurate account of the modern history of the Middle East. This account uncovers all the distorted images. It bravely states the real motives behind the Gulf war. It is a highly recommended book for those who wish to know the truth.

One of the most difficult subjects for any historian to deal with - and one that many suggest should not even be undertaken - is recent history. Writing about recent history has far more risk of bias and lacks the documentary evidence that that the fullness of time tends to bring forth. In the Iran-Iraq War 1980-1988, Mideast scholar Dr. Efraim Karsh attempts to summarize the main points of this brutal, but ultimately indecisive, contest of nations. The result of Dr. Karsh's study is interesting, but may well disappoint many readers. First, the military details and analysis are rather sparse, which is not unexpected given the closed nature of both Iraqi and Iranian sources. Second, Dr. Karsh clearly has a pro-Iraqi bias that tends to skew his analysis of political motives and intentions. Overall, this volume succeeds in delivering a useful summary of the Iran-Iraq War, but readers will probably not be as satisfied as they would reading an Osprey Essential History on the First or Second World Wars.

The Iran-Iraq War begins with an introduction, a chronology, a short background to the war, and a brief synopsis of the warring sides. The actual military campaigns are covered in two chapters totaling 40 pages. The author then uses several short chapters to cover selected topics: Iran's use of boy soldiers, the Iraqi and Iranian national war efforts, the campaign against the Kurds and how the war ended. The author's conclusion is entitled, "a costly exercise in futility," which tends to sum up his opinion of the war. There are a total of 9 maps (the Mideast in 1980, the Iraqi invasion of Iran in 1980, Iran's recapture of Khuzestan, the deployment of the Iraqi corps in 1982, Iran's Dawn Offensives, Iran's capture of Fao, the tanker war, Operation Karbala 5, and Iraq's final offensives in 1988). Unlike most Osprey titles, these maps are not very useful since they don't convey very much information. Nor are the photographs very exceptional; few are actually related to the fighting and most depict only rather bland images. Finally, the bibliography does not list any primary sources or even Iraqi or Iranian periodicals (presumably the author is conversant in regional languages) and lists rather standard secondary sources like Anthony Cordesman. While Cordesman is a good source on this subject, it is not clear that the author did much original research. Considering that there are officer émigrés (such as at least one Iraqi corps commander) from both nations now in the west, the author might have included some interviews with these individuals.

While the author covers all the major battles of the war, the coverage appears little deeper than what one could glean from contemporary newspaper accounts. Not one military unit on either side is even mentioned by name, nor are any military leaders other than Iraqi general Rashid mentioned. This account is of a war of faceless, nameless ciphers. Given that some information is available in the west on some of the early armor battles and on the Republican Guard, the author seems to have done little to enrich the military side of this account. The brief section on opposing armies really only addresses the relative forces in quantitative terms, without even touching doctrine or tactics. The Iranian army, having been trained by the US, was far more dependent on air support and artillery than the tank-heavy Soviet-trained Iraqi army.

The author's pro-Iraqi bias is hard to swallow. In Dr. Karsh's view, Saddam Hussein had little choice but to invade Iran in 1980 since the Revolutionary regime was a threat to his own political survival. Furthermore, the author views Hussein's main mistake as opting for overly-limited objectives, instead of really crippling Iran's military power by going for a full-scale invasion. While the author concedes that Hussein does perpetuate a personality cult and did kill thousands of Kurdish civilians with poison gas, the Iraqi leader is consistently presented as an essentially normal leader. In the conclusion, the author again paints Iraq as being "forced to" invade Kuwait in 1990. Wait a minute! No choice but to invade? Saddam Hussein presented as a normal leader? How about the far more realistic assessment that Saddam Hussein was (is) a criminal dictator who seized the opportunity to seize some oil-rich areas in Iran when the Iranian Revolutionary had disrupted Iran's military defenses. The Shatt-al-Arab waterway dispute that the author mentions was only the Iraqi cassus belli, but he fails to mention that the Iraqi drives toward Ahvaz and Abadan were designed to grab major oil producing areas, not just remove threats to Iraqi transshipment routes. Had the Iraqi aggression succeeded, Saddam Hussein would have increased his control over the Mideast oil supply by grabbing important Iranian oil fields. He tried the same thing in 1990 in Kuwait. Saddam Hussein's motives and intentions are clear: use force to grab oil resources from weakly defended areas. Readers should also note the omission of certain Iraqi provocative acts, in particular the 1987 "accidental" missile attack on the USS Stark (but the author does mention the mining of the USS Samuel B. Roberts by the Iranians). If this account is to be believed, Iraq "saved" the other Gulf States from Iranian aggression and had been forced into a difficult position from which military force was the only answer. This type of bias, combined with inadequate coverage of the military aspects of the war, reduces the Iran-Iraq War 1980-1988 to the second tier of secondary sources.

As I write this review, the United States and its coalition partners have recently deposed Saddam Hussein. It looks as though a long occupation is about to begin and I wanted to learn more about Iraq and its recent history. I turned to this Osprey Essential History of the Iran Iraq War because I wanted a quick overview of this conflict.

The book is 91 pages and is the typical Osprey sized paperback with plenty of pictures and maps. Without the maps and photos, the book is about 50-60 pages long and it took me about two hours to read.

The War was approximately 8 years long and there were a million or more casualties. That is a lot of history to cram into this slim volume. To be able to do this, the author had to take the grand strategic view of the War. For those looking for nitty gritty of the War, this is not the book for you. There are no Angus McBride illustrations of T-72's or Iranian uniforms. This book tells its story from the lofty height of senior leaders and nation states.

This book reminds me of one of those intense articles on history, economics and politics that one can find in a great magazine like the Economist. I own more than a 100 Osprey books and this is the best writing that I have ever come across in one of their books. Karsh's prose is economical and thought provoking.

Having finished this book, I had to re-evaluate my understanding of both Saddam Hussein and the Ayatollah Khomeini. They are both much more complex characters than I had understood. This is an introductory book on the War and it has inspired me to go out and learn more about the conflict. Highly recommended and very timely.

If you are a Hegwood fan, come on, read this book. It is a bit slower moving than his other novels, but the usual Hegwood cast of characters is here. This time at a Casino music spectacular. And the insurance companies get stung. And there is some pretty good misdirection. And the untangling of the plot will grab you. And ,yes, you can figure it out - almost- but I will not spoil the fun. Guess what I like about Hegwood is that there are clues to the solution ,and so far he seems to play fair in letting his readers speculate about the conclusion.

Casino employee Johnnie Koscko leaves Vegas with enough of a stake to return home to Biloxi, Mississippi to buy the Jackpot Bay Casino. Johnnie envisions the area becoming part of the European high roller jet set. In fact his first plane load of the Monte Carlo crowd is coming to Biloxi in a few days to gamble at Johnnie's casino and to listen to the rock sound of the very popular Snow Mountain.

However, as usual for Johnny just when he seems paused for success he rolls craps. The casino insurance carrier is concerned over missing revenue. They send private investigator Jack Delmas to force Johnny to hire security auditor Tara Stocklin. Even with Jack and Tara involved, Johnny seems to be holding the "Deadman's Hand" as murder and robbery follow.

Readers who try a Jack Delmas novel will believe they hit the jackpot, as he is a strong character who consistently provides the audience with a quiet intelligent outlook as he tries to do the right thing though not always successful. However, the rest of the key cast members such as Johnny and Tara, etc. come across as worthless sharks with nothing much to redeem them so that they appear more a caricatures than people. Still the exciting story line of JACKPOT BAY is an engaging look behind the scene at the Gulf Coast gambling spots. For those who don't know Jack, he is worth the time to read about even in this novel, but especially in his previous appearances like MASSACRE ISLAND.

Harriet Klausner

Jarecke's poignant images combined with Cervenka's offbeat poetry and artistic doodlings make for an interesting visual experience. Jarecke was the only major photojournalist to attempt to work "off-the-beaten-path" and outside of the U.S. military's scripted press coverage of the Desert Storm conflict.

It should be noted that this book is not for the lighthearted. There are many gruesome images of disfigured and often charred humans. These powerful images tend to get repetitious by the end of the book and lose their overall impact that I'm sure both authors were attempting to make.

If you're interested in seeing what U.S. soldiers saw from their "Hummers" after U.S. forces decimated the Iraqy militia or are interested in what you "didn't" see from the U.S. and world media, this book is for you.

Overall, the book is a bit disjuncted by the lack of a clear storyline between the imagery,poetry and artwork which, don't seem to have a clear connection to the each other elementally.

This book is not for the faint of heart. Nor is it a book for anyone that will close their eyes to the atrocities of war. Throughout this book are images that never made it into the newspapers: pictures of barbarians that have no respect for the culture and customs of the people they are supposedly fighting for, picutures that recall the images of the Nazi SS and the hatred they showed to the Russian people on their march of destruction to Moscow. This book is filled with pictures not of Saddam and his armies, but of American servicemen exhibiting the sickening characteristics of the proverbial "Ugly American."

This book does not contain pictures of heroes. It contains pictures of American soldiers that will shock and disgust. Mr. Jarecke was there. The camera does not hide the horrible truth that our servicemen acted no better than the monster they sought to depose.

For some, the images contained with the pages of this book will be a new experience--for me it was painful reminder of my time in the service.

I bought this book for a recent business trip to Qatar, and was dissapointed to find quite a number of things that were very out of date. The phone system has been updated since publishing, and now all numbers are 7 instead of 6 digits. you can fix most by adding a 4 at the beginning of most listed numbers, or a 5 for cell phones. Also, some crucial info, like the address to the US Embassy, was wrong. The Embassy moved several years ago. I found most of the societal and historical info to be very handy in preparing for the trip, however, so it was worth it for that.

I have spent time in all three countries and can say that this book will be invaluable for first time vistors and seasoned traveller alike.

Bahrain with its charming city of Manama, is a Gulf delight, with so many things to see and do. Qatar and espcially Doha is a gem, and Kuwait is exotic, enchanting and modern all at the same time.

There are some great places to eat in all of these places and at good prices (has anyone had a bad meal in the Gulf?) and gives sound advice for people touring the area on a wide range of subjects.

If you are planning to go to Bahrain I would recommend the Mishal Gardens for a Shisha (apple or mixed fruit hubbly bubbly) and the Diplomat Hotel for its great floor show, amongst many things. Also, don't forget to visit the siouk (old shopping markets and shops including gold and real pearls).

Great book! Great destinations!

regards,

martyn_jones@iniciativas.com

When I picked up this book I was sure that it was going to be 200 pages of a full-scale rant against Bush, the UAS and military operations in general. I was prepared for a full-blown assault on my senses by the way left peace activists. It turns out that I was wrong. The report does take a critical eye at the military operations and there are a few bits of the book that hit an anti-war note, but overall I felt that the reporting was fair. Now do not get me wrong, this report set out to document every mistake or oversight the military made during the war that resulted in civilian deaths. If you think this kind of reporting is anti American then I would suggest you pass up the book (you are probably not even this far given the title).

The authors of the report try their best to be accurate, but the vast majority of their reporting is based on civilian accounts of the situations in refugee camps. I am not saying these people lied, but I would have to say that the average civilian that saw battle damage may not have the full story. Regardless of this, it did seam to me that they tried to get multiple sources for each item and US military backup for each event. I think the most important reason to read a book like this is to get an overall understanding that warfare is a very dangerous and damaging event. Many people are killed or injured and as the people of the USA have not had a war at home for over a 100 years we tend to forget or gloss over the massive damage a modern war does to the civilian population. Overall the book is interesting and not badly written, it is just not going to provide any new earth shattering news.

"Commanders of the allied bombing campaign of Iraq have sought to convey the impression that they took scrupulous care to avoid civilian casualties. While noting that some loss of civilian life is unavoidable in armed conflict, allied commanders have suggested that they took every feasible step to avoid civilian death and injury, as required by the laws of war. This report challenges that excessively rosy picture. Its conclusions are based on scores of interviews conducted during the war with those who fled the bombing, as well as substantial subsequent research and analysis. Middle East Watch concludes that while the allies avoided systematic violations of the laws of war, hundreds of Iraqi civilians died as a result of several allied decisions to take less than the maximum feasible precautions to avoid civilian casualties, as required by the laws of war.

"The report also examines the Iraqi missile attacks on Israel and Saudi Arabia. Most of these attacks are found to have violated the laws of war by targeting civilians or by being fired into areas where the missiles were not technologically capable of distinguishing between civilian and military targets. Some of these attacks also violated the laws of war because they were accompanied by rhetoric designed to terrorize the civilian population of those countries.

"Middle East Watch hopes that the analysis presented in this report will spark a critical examination of both allied and Iraqi conduct of the air war with the aim of reducing avoidable civilian casualties in any future conflict."

This book is an outstanding read for all future officers. You can't go 3 pages without finding some leadership principle in action. Not theory talk, but application through his experiences. He has some great stories to tell and covers what it's like in a modern day aviation unit.

As someone who loves to read military autobiographies and personal memoirs, It was a great pleasure to read one from someone I had the pleasure of serving with. J. Garcia has a great flair for making the reader share his discomfort and loss after his aircraft crashed on a training mission and how he coped with the loss and uses those emotions only a few months later to lead troops in to combat during Desert Storm.

The beginning of the book has him being a little to "gung-ho" for my taste, but later he shares how that mellows and begins to accept that serving your country in the profession of arms is not all glory but lots of hard work and dedication.

I highly recommend this book to company grade officers serving in our armed forces.

This work, like his previous Vietnam and Korean Conflict almanacs, are great for beginning military historians. It defines terms, identifies people, explains weapons, tactics, etc. It is a good reference for anacademic military historian as well. The chronology in the front of the book is excellent. It is, on the whole, a very good addition for a military historian's or a beginner's bookshelf

This almanac, like Summer's Vietnam and Korean Conflict almanacs, is a good introduction to the Persian Gulf War for people who know absolutely nothing about military history, the Gulf war, strategy, and tactics. It defines terms, contains a great chronology, and explains basic terms, weapons, and tactics. I have used it before in undergraduate classes where there are many people without knowledge of anything in the military. It is a good, useful book, but will annoy experts. It is not written for the professionals or the buffs, but for beginners.

This beautiful tome is more an art book cataloging the leaflets used during the Gulf War than it is a true textbook on how to use, create, design and disseminate propoganda. I bought it hoping to learn tricks of the trade, and instead I found precious little information beyond the provided examples.

Very well written with historical information on each leaflet. Intresting reading with translations and notes, and even the weight (stock) of the paper for propaganda leaflets . This is a great reference and educational guide on Psychological Warfare. A must read for all interested in the Gulf War, the military, and the human mind.