Crusade: The Untold Story of the Persian Gulf War

Crusade: The Untold Story of the Persian Gulf War
by Rick Atkinson

Crusade: The Untold Story of the Persian Gulf War
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Book Summary Information

Author: Rick Atkinson
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 1994-10-19
ISBN: 0395710839
Number of pages: 608
Publisher: Mariner Books

Book Reviews of Crusade: The Untold Story of the Persian Gulf War

Book Review: A Better Look....
Summary: 4 Stars

Veteran writer and journalist Rick Atkinson's "Crusade" was published in 1993, just long enough after the end of the First Gulf War for the dust to settle and for the author to sort through what really happened. Although less complete as a military account than Scales' "Certain Victory" or Gordon and Trainer's "The Generals' War", it is easily the most engrossing for the general reader. Atkinson nimbly steps between the battlefield, the Coalition command post in Saudi Arabia, and the Washington Beltway to create a compelling narrative of the personal and poltical dimensions of the conflict.

Atkinson's gift is to put perspective on a huge effort. Following the invasion of Kuwait by Iraqi, the United States led a UN-sponsored coalition in first protecting Saudi Arabia and then liberating Kuwait. Operations DESERT SHIELD and DESERT STORM represented the most significant military effort by the United States since the end of the Vietnam War. For many participants, the Gulf War was a long-overdue exorcism of the ghosts of Vietnam, and Atkinson faithfully traces that thread in the narrative.

The outsized personality of General Norman Schwartzkopf dominates the story in the Middle East. In charge of an isolated command with few assigned troops, Schwartzkopf was responsible for the rapid build-up of a multi-national force, the careful tending of various allies, and the ultimately successful campaign to liberate Kuwait. That enormous amounts of political and military friction were an inescapable part of this effort is no surprise; its extent is captured here.

DESERT STORM was a proving ground for various new forms of technology and doctrine whose use is now considered routine. Atkinson successfully narrates the terrific struggles over the integration of a joint, combined combat effort at what was then the cutting edge of innovation. Inevitably, mistakes were made; Atkinson documents this as well.

This book is highly recommended as an excellent account of the First Gulf War for the general reader and for the student looking for broad coverage.

Summary of Crusade: The Untold Story of the Persian Gulf War

This definitive account of the Gulf War relates the previously untold story of the U.S. war with Iraq in the early 1990s. The author follows the 42-day war from the first night to the final day, providing vivid accounts of bombing runs, White House strategy sessions, firefights, and bitter internal conflicts.

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