Customer Reviews

On the Banks of the Suez: An Israeli General's Personal Account of the Yom Kippur War

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There exist very few books on the Yom Kippur War. 'No Victory No vanquished' is a useless account written just after the war. 'The war of Atonement' by Herzog is informative. 'Yom Kippur War' by the london insight team is slightly biased against Israel but very informative. 'Two O'clock war' by Boyne is totally americanized and does not have a good grasp on Israel. This read by General 'Bren' Adan is the most professorial of the books and one of the most dry but also most informative in regards to the SOuthern front.

Adan found himself and his unit facing the brunt of the arab attack along the canal in the first days of the fighting. he lost 1/3 or more of his tanks in a wasted counterattack during the second day of the conflict. But although wounded his unit went on to cross the canal and take vengeance upon the Egyptians. This authoritative account is critical of the role of Sharon and commends 'Dado' for his original counterattack plan that was subsequently changed by Gonen.

An interesting account of Israeli arms in a time of crises. the new book by Blum 'Eve of Destruction' is a much easier read but does not contain the detail of this dry account of the war by one of its cheif participants.

I have read many books about the 1973 Yom Kippur War (Sometimes called the October War, the War for atonement, the Tishreen War, the Ramadan war, and even a few other names), but Avraham (Bren) Adan's "On the Banks of the Suez" is without a doubt the most professionally written and open-minded account of the fighting on the Egyptian front of the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Several outstanding books exist for the fighting on the Golan at the Syrian front and I highly recommend the books by Avigdor Kahalani and Raful Eitan. For a general overview of the war including both fronts, I recommend Chaim Herzog's "The War for Atonement." However, "On the Banks of the Suez" has no equal for explaining the action on the Egyptian front.

Some of the many reasons that make this a great book are:

1. PROFESSIONAL MILITARY WRITING: A military professional wrote this book for other military professionals. Many authors have a tendency to remove military language and viewpoints to simplify the text for popular review. Bren Adan resisted doing that although he did write the book in as lucid and clear a method as is possible without "dumbing down" the work.

2. IMPARTIAL CRITICISM: The book, while written by an Israeli general, is impartial. He doesn't hesitate to critique the fighting by either the Egyptians or the Israelis. In fact, he criticizes the Israeli actions much more so than those of the Egyptians combatants. There, of course, are some of his personal opinions and some discussions of the political factors, but Adan avoids overly moralizing history and instead presents it for the reader's review.

3. LITTLE TO NO INTELLIGENCE "BLUR": One of the shortcomings of many books written about the 1973 Yom Kippur war in the first five to ten years after the war is the editing that IDF spokespeople did to the information released about the war. For security's sake, they often change unit names and other critical date making it difficult to track whom was where and when. Adan, being intimately aware of such restrictions, was able to write this book without having his writing made confusing.

4. EXCITING ACCOUNTS OF THE ACTION: Adan holds no punches describing the action and successes of the fighters on both sides. I particularly enjoyed his accounts of the tough fighting by Egyptians commandos in the beginning of the war. The Israeli tankers, on the other hand, were tenacious dedicated fighters as well.

5. INSIGHTFUL ANALYSIS OF NONCOMBAT FACTORS: Adan describes very well what's is going on in the background of the war: the superpower struggle, ineffective UN mediation, political factors in both the Egyptian and Israeli government, as well as the effect of the civilians behind the lines.

I highly recommend this incredibly well written book to anyone interested in the 1973 Yom Kippur War. I particularly recommend it to military professionals.

Review by: Maximillian Ben Hanan

General Adan's book is the best-written work on war that I have ever read. It is clear and concise, and General Adan tries to organize the swirling complexities of modern warfare--in which he was a major participant--into an understandable chronology of events. He also gives his honest appraisal of his superiors, colleagues and subordinates. Like all soldiers who have experienced battle, he is saddened by the loss of lives, especially those of people he knew and respected. War is not a game; it is a grim business, in which military people either kill the enemy or are killed by them. General Adan discusses these tragic details and occasionally adds personal notes and insights.
Another aspect of this book that I admire is that General Adan does not present a jingoistic portrait of his countrymen as all being altruistic heroes, while the enemy is presented as being stupid, inhuman trolls. Instead, General Adan presents the motivations and apparent strategies of both sides very objectively. He offers insightful opinions about why various strategies and tactics worked, while others did not succeed as well as might have been expected. And, he discusses the political involvements of each side's allies, which many of us tend to overlook. A surprise to me was that he wound up being part of Israel's delegation to the peace conference after the war! General Adan certainly is one of Israel's greatest generals and statesmen!
His book is a must-read for anyone interested in the types of warfare fought in the Suez-Canal area of the Near East. It is replete with detailed information about initial strategies and the daily implementations of these strategies, how units maneuvered and fought, and what the results were.
Until we can beat our swords into plowshares, this book should grace every historian's shelf.

In my opinion, General Adan devoted too much space in his book to commenting on his fellow officers. His statements about General Gonen (Gorodisch) give the appearance of an attempt to settle a personal score rather than give a clear, factual historical account. Adan's animus towards Gonen comes through his writing. He even states that Gonen tried to blame him for some of the failures on the Israeli side, which gives reason to suspect whatever Adan has to say about Gonen.