Iran-Iraq War: The Lion of Babylon, 1980–1988

Cold War 1945-1991

by Anthony Tucker-Jones

The bloody eight-year Iran-Iraq war is now almost forgotten, overshadowed by the subsequent Gulf War and Iraq War. However, it is best remembered for the unique so-called 'Tanker War' which threatened to strangle the world's oil supplies. At the time Tucker-Jones as a defence analyst wrote extensively on the war and now brings his expertise to bear with this account of a conflict fuelled by festering regional rivalries, the Cold War and the emerging threat posed by militant Shia Islam.

Fought on land, at sea and in the air using some of the most modern weapons money could buy, Western-backed Saddam Hussein's Sunni Iraq and Shia Iran under the ayatollahs fought themselves to a standstill. Once Saddam's armoured blitzkrieg had been halted and Iran's human-wave counterattacks fought off, it became a war of attrition with major battles fought for the possession of Khorramshahr and Basra. Both sides resorted to chemical weapons and bombarding each other with missiles. When the war spilled over into the waters of the Gulf it sparked open Western intervention. Escalating attacks on oil tankers finally culminated in a ceasefire.

136 pages, Paperback

Published July 17, 2018

About the author

Defence analyst Anthony Tucker-Jones spent nearly 20 years in the British Intelligence Community before establishing himself as a defence writer and historian: commenting on regional conflicts, counter-terrorism, intelligence and military affairs.

He is a highly experienced expert with particular strengths in editing, feature writing, report writing, communicating to specialists and non-specialists alike.

Anthony Tucker-Jones has been extensively published in numerous titles and on various news websites. He has also written a number of books.

He is widely travelled with assignments in Africa, Europe, the Far East, Latin America and the Middle East. He lived for a time in Bahrain.

Anthony holds an MA in International Relations & Strategic Studies from Lancaster University.

(Taken from official website.)

Reviews

[Mahdi Mirhoseini]

کتاب بسیار شلخته ست و با جنگ دم دستی برخورد کرده. ضعیف تر از دیگر کتاب هایی که تاکنون در غرب درباره ی جنگ منتشر شده. با خواندن کتاب هیچ دیدی از تحولات جنگ پیدا نخواهید کرد و صرفا اطلاعات (گاها غلط) درباره ی تجهیزات جنگی وارداتی عراق و ایران می دهد. خلاصه که از این کتاب دوری کنید

[David Cuatt]

A very good overview of this long and costly war between two
of the Middle East's biggest powers. Full of relevant pictures.
I did find this to be a bit dry and heavy on the statistics and although
{ learned a lot it didn't really bring the conflict to life for me.

[Winston B.]

Decent but quick overview of the Iran Iraq war. If you don't know anything about the war, this is a good starting place. It's not in depth, but you'll know more about the war than the average member of the population.

[Asmizal Ahmad]

If you just need a primer on the Iran-Iraq war, this book will serve you well. If you are seeking a more in-depth analysis of the war, seek other books.

[Mohamedridha Alaskari محمد رضا العسكري]

Need to have initial thoughts about Iran-Iraq war, then this book would be useful for you especially with the pictures provided on n each section of the book.

[Austin Wilson]

nice short synopsis of a fascinating War. if you want a quick overview of it, this will suffice.