Military Lessons of the Gulf War

by Bruce W. Watson, Bruce George, Peter G. Tsouras

Book Club edition bound in black boards. A near fine copy in a very good dust jacket. Dust soiling to the edges of the book's upper page block. The dust jacket's panels show some wrinkling and dust soiling.

Genres: Military History, Military Fiction

272 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 1991

Reviews

[Martin Koenigsberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sitting as I do in December 2019, seeing that another US Brigade size Force is being sent to Iraq to maintain stability, it is hard to buy in to the Giddy Triumphalist tone of this book- published in 1991 in the immediate aftermath of Gulf War II. The conceit of the book is that Bruce Watson leads a top level team of Authors and Analysts from Military Think Tanks and Academics in discussing a lot of aspects of the War. With Chapters like Prelude, Diplomacy, Force Deployment, Military Factors, Consequences and Conclusions there are a lot of interesting points that the writers bring up about the conflict that are still worth acknowledging - but a lot that feel hollow- in the wake of the last 30 years of strife in the area. Hezbollah was a new adversary in the early 90s- ISIS was yet to be spawned in this very region.

What this book has for the reader already familiar with the Shwartzkopf/DLB management of the war, both air and land will are added details that some other histories leave off. The elements on Electronic Warfare, Intelligence, and the Naval war are particularly deeper dives and fascinating for it. There are some good B/W pics, great command diagrams, maps and wonderful appendices with a lot of really interesting information- how each allied aircraft shot down was lost fascinated me, for instance. There is a lot to digest- more interesting still if you've paid attention to the last 30 years -that contain of course, Gulf War III. I really enjoyed the book- but sprinkled a lot of salt on the conclusions drawn.

With a fair amount of subtle adult themes i think a Junior reader should be at least 12 to take this on- although there are no frank casualty reports. For the Gamer/Modeller/Military Enthusiast this is a real find. The appendices and maps are full of information that can improve Scenario development and interest the enthusiast. There is a lot of information a Team Yankee/Fate Of A Nation/Oil War/Red Storm Rising/BattleGroup Modern player can digest to comprehend "modern" war on a deeper level. The focus on logistics and support echelons shows the professional approach this book takes- and that makes it a good candidate for any Post Cold War Library.

[Jared · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting and informative read. Well structured and succinct. At times I felt like some of the topics were a little underdone. Not written in a particularly narrative style but it is certainly worth reading for those who want to understand this conflict better.

[Jimmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

As someone who tends to concentrate on the American Civil War, I found this book an interesting look at how warfare is waged in the late 20th century. While not going into too much detail about any one subject, it does show how such things like logistics and intelligence were handled during, and the influence they had on, the war. However, the book is told almost exclusively from the Coalition's perspective, with a single chapter on the diplomacy of Iraq during the war.