The commander of the British force in the Gulf War 1990, Peter de la Billière, starts from his childhood, to finish with his retirement from the army after the Gulf War. Reading about his difficult childhood and his later career in the SAS, one cannot fail to notice the parallel with the author of Bravo Two Zero, Andy McNab: turbulence and misbehavior in the civilian life, make for excellent SAS troops. What is unacceptable behavior on civy street, is very desirable, tough and resourceful behavior in the special forces. Among the proliferation of books about the SAS, this is the definitive account on this special force - de la Billière was its commander and then director, he should know a thing or two about it, although he still cannot write it all. A must for the modern history and military buff, with a lesson or two about management thrown in for good measure.

In his autobiography, Peter de la Billiere, gives a very exciting account of his military and civilian life. From an umpromising childhood he fell into and found his niche in the British army. There are many interesting chapters covering his various feats in Korea, Malaysia, the Midddle East, Northern Ireland, the Falklands and the Gulf War. I found the details of his various postings with the SAS to be of particular interest. The only annoying area is his insistence on using "I, myself" and "We, ourselves" throughout the book. Also, he speaks of a man being "Hung"! Grammar aside, De la Billiere is clearly a man who enjoys life and a man to be admired. Well worth the read for fans of military history or people who are just interested in a good adventure.

Rahman expertly fills a major scholarly gap by providing a detailed history of the Iraqi claim to Kuwait. He dates the origins of an autonomous Kuwait to 1752 and marshalls an impressive array of contemporary sources, mostly British, to show that the sheikhdom retained its autonomy throughout the next one and a half centuries, until in 1899 it signed an agreement with the British government that placed Kuwait effectively under British protection. This arrangement, it bears stressing, was initiated by the Kuwaitis themselves due to their fear of Ottoman expansionism southward from Iraq.

Hardly had Iraq become an independent state when its leaders began the campaign to annex Kuwait. The first declaration about Kuwait as a "non-separable part" of Iraq was published in Baghdad by a government daily on May 16, 1933. Rahman analyzes a campaign that sometimes sought a border rectification and at other times aspired to take over the whole of Kuwait, then shows how it continued, with ups and downs, over six decades, culminating with the invasion of August 2, 1990. The author convincingly concludes that the ugly boundary dispute behind that invasion "had its roots in the beginning of the twentieth century when the Ottoman Empire extended its power" southward toward Kuwait. Regrettably, Rahman does not draw conclusions from his historical study about the future, but his long tale of territorial ambition will leave most readers worried that Iraq's long-standing irredentism lives on, despite the many costs of defeat and deprivation.

Middle East Quarterly, June 1998

The illustrations are excellent. There are numerous keys, which I have not had much opportunity to use. This book is for the advanced student or very well prepared amateur. It is NOT a match the picture guide for the casual nature lover.

Chris Ryan tells his true-life tale of a secret, "behind enemy lines" mission as a member of the elite, British Special Air Service (S.A.S.) during the Persian Gulf War. Chris Ryan not only chronicles the details before, during, and after his "ill-fated" mission - but fairly well describes the actions and events leading to his choice of career.
In a nutshell, Chris' team of special operators - eight in number - are "put-down" by helicopter, behind enemy lines into Iraq. As if this weren't dangerous enough in the time of "pre-combat" Iraq, things take a turn for the worse when the entire team is compromised, or discovered by the indigenous people. A formidable military attack and pursuit entails, and so starts the "last recourse" of evasion. Following this compromise, several events occur which put Chris on a course of tragedy, suffering, self-doubt, and self-preservation. To read this book and not feel inspiration or admiration for the author is not likely.

This book will show you just what a human being will be able to do through training, fitness, willpower, and mabe, the survival instinct - not to mention the memory of family.

"Operation Desert Shield" is one of several volumes in the War in the Gulf series that covers the war that followed the invasion of Kuwait by the military forces of Iraq in the late summer of 1990. This juvenile history by Paul J. Deegan covers the time period from the invasion to when Congress authorized President Bush to go to war in the Gulf and a million soldiers were lined up on both sides of the border. In between Deegan looks the forming of the coalition, the commitment of U.S. troops, and what it was like for them in Saudi Arabia preparing for the war. The book is illustrated with black & white photographs taken during Desert Shield. Of course today the interest in this book is to compare the situation then and now, and young readers will of course find the biggest difference being the lack of a widespread coalition where lots of nations sent troops instead of just the United States and Great Britain the second time around. Deegan provides a concise history of Operation Desert Shield in terms young readers will find easy to understand. The problem will be in getting them to go back and read about ancient history like this, but if they have stumbled across a rather famous declaration by George Santayana they might be more inclined to read some of the books in this series. The history lesson continues in the companion volume, "Operation Desert Storm," while others in the series look at George Bush, Saddam Hussein, Persian Gulf Nations, and the Arab/Israeli Conflict.

This volume by Paul J. Deegan for the War in the Gulf series continues the story begun in the "Operation Desert Shield" volume, although this one can certainly stand on its own. The other volume ended with Congress authorizing military operations to free Kuwait from the Iraqi invaders and this one beings with the beginning of the air attack, which lasted for 39 days until the ground war began and was over 100 hours later. The standard for any juvenile history about "Operation Desert Storm" remains the same as for any book dealing with that topic: how will it compares to the famous press conference briefing that General H. Norman Schwarzkopf gave to the American people (name another press conference that was not only rebroadcast that same night and produced as a video tape). Unfortunately this book does not provide a sense of the strategy and tactics that Schwarzkopf detailed. Basically the war boils down to a lot period of aerial bombardments followed by a whole lot of Iraqi troops surrendering to Coalition Forces. However, Deegan certainly provides a solid look at the key events and provides the significant numbers by which wars are judged as failures or successes.

Young readers who go back and check out this book to find out how the first Gulf War compares with the second will probably be struck by the fact that only 124 U.S. troops died in the Desert Storm campaign (versus an estimated 100,000 Iraqis) and 45 Americans listed as missing in action. Hopefully young readers will be able to appreciate the difference between invading Kuwait to expel the Iraqi forces and invading Iraq to force the government of Saddam Hussein out of power (although Coalition forces did get within 150 miles of Baghdad). The book is illustrated with black & white photographs taken during Desert Storm. Although this topic probably constitutes ancient history for the age group at which it is aimed, telling about events that probably took place before they were born, it will give them a better appreciation of what is happening today in the aftermath of the second Gulf War. But one of the final sections of this book asks the question "When would the soldiers come home?", a question that is certainly relevant today. Other volumes in the War in the Gulf series are devoted to the various Persian Gulf Nations, the Arab/Israeli Conflict, Weapons of War, and the leaders of the two sides.

Operation Friction gives one of only two histories of Canada's contribution to the Gulf War that I have seen (the other being The Persian Excursion). Gimblett's book is obviously the work of a professional historian, lacking the flash of the journalist, but solid, reliable and easily read. Although Gimblett does recount the story of the two fighter squadrons based in Bahrain and Qatar during the conflict, and the ground troops on garrison duty, it becomes fairly clear that Canada's major contribution to the Gulf war was in the Gulf itself -- the three ships (One destroyer, one frigate and one supply vessel)that hurriedly sailed from port after Canada threw its hat in the game. Canada's contribution mirrored its efforts in the Second World War -- an escort navy. In the lower and Central Gulf, the destroyer Athabasca and the very old frigate Terra Nova sheparded Coalition supply vessels safely to Saudi harbours, while stopping and boarding dozens of suspect ships heading to Iraqi harbour terminals. The Protecteur, the supply ship, was kept at sea for great lengths as she was always in need by the other Coalition ships. Eventually Canadian ships took over the leadership of convoy duties in the central Gulf, while Athabasca braved the minefields that had badly damaged the USS Princeton to escort the American missile cruiser south to safety. Canada only played a limited offensive role in the war (using it's CF-18 fighter-bombers in the last couple of days), but its forces were there throughout Desert Storm and Desert Shield. She played a valuable, if not spectacular role in the Kuwait crisis and Gimblett has done a very creditable job.

Elaine Sciolino has an excellent reporter's eye. OUTLAW STATE is this New York Times Diplomatic Correspondent's view through a glass darkly into the heart of Saddam Hussein's Iraq. Written just after the First Gulf War, it is a primer and an expose on just why there is a Second Gulf War. As Hussein's regime dies before our eyes OUTLAW STATE is well worth a serious review.

The Iraq Sciolino visits is a Stalinist state with an Emperor-Worship cult that Djugashvili would be proud of. The two keywords in Iraqi life are "fear" and "forbidden." Saddam is a documented madman who has gassed his own population, chopped dissenters (real and imagined) literally into pieces, and made war with his neighbors for no reason whatsoever except paranoia and megalomania.

Believing himself to be the reincarnation of Nebuchadnezzar and a relative of Saladin (born in Saddam's home village of Tikrit), Saddam is reputed to see himself in messianic terms as the ruler of a greater Arab empire or a new Caliphate. Saddam insists on creating ersatz Mesopotamian ruins (complete with "prophecies" proclaiming his own eventual appearance on the world stage) and forcing children to mindlessly recite Baath Party dictums (one is reprinted here, comically mangled by a little girl who mentions the "national I forgot"). While squandering Iraqi oil money on showy palaces and the pleasures of the flesh, most Iraqis today are impoverished, and Saddam's regular army goes shoeless, being in his eyes utterly expendable.

He has created the Republican Guard in his image, much as Hitler created the SS in his, and imbued them with a fanatical fervor. However, fervor is all they have. Despite the fact that the Iraqis have the world's fourth largest military (or did), they are relatively poorly trained and are motivated chiefly by fear and Saddam's personality cult. End the cult, Scolino infers, and end the motivation.

Scolino gives example after example of the Iraqi leader's unbalanced world view, from the public beating of Embassy personnel to the private executions Saddam seems to thrive on.

Never having learned the Arabist-mercantile approach of the bazaar, Scolino relates that Saddam relies on brute force to coerce what he wants from whom he wants it. As a result, he has few allies and no friends (...), and an inflated view of himself. When he bragged to fellow dictator Assad of Syria (...) that he could "destroy America and Israel in one blow" Assad's response was "You're crazy. If you've never fought the Israelis you know nothing about military might." Never mind the Americans, Assad seemed to add.

Scolino does point up a few positives: Until the Iran-Iraq War, the necessities of life and luxury consumer goods were readily available. Ordinary Iraqis were treated to an array of "perks" unheard of in the West, all based on oil money. Free automobiles (with free gasoline)and immense periodic cash disbursements were as common as free health care and education.

Saddam, to his credit, reveled in building an ultramodern Iraq with a cutting-edge infrastructure. Although the populace prospered in the early years of the regime, Saddam's fixation on war and on maintaining his police state eroded and finally undid his utopian visions of a modern Iraq. The US-led UN sanctions were merely the endgame in a long cycle of collapse. Iraq's citizenry has nothing now but dreams and terror.

OUTLAW STATE is frightening. A reader can imagine that the reportage is slanted (Iraqis are portrayed as characteristically dour and reserved, unusual traits for the usually hospitable Arab people) but perhaps that is the slant. There seems little good to report in this oil-rich nation-state concentration camp.

Anyone wishing to understand why America has gone to war need only read OUTLAW STATE. ...

Read this book to really know the Cracker South. If you are interested in organizing people you will learn first hand about the unionization of the Cuban cigar workers.

This is Dixie in all its rawness! Learn of the real South. Nobody is exempt from its biting edge.