Customer Reviews

CERTAIN VICTORY (M): The U.S. Army in the Gulf War (History of War)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

Scales' book holds very true to it's title: The U.S. Army in the Gulf War. The contributions of other services are analyzed (and criticized) only in relation to their support of the US Army. I think anyone studying the Gulf War should read this book, but should also supplement it with other works.

This book was required reading for a class I took on the Gulf War. It has a lot of good information written in an easy to understand format. It begins with a brief history of the U.S. military since Vietnam and explains the evolution in training, equipment, and doctrine since Vietnam.

The book also keeps you entertained with accounts of different battles at the begining of each chapter. This is a good book for those interested in getting a history of the Gulf War from the perspective of the US Army.

Gen Scales deliveres the good in his book "Certain Victory". It is a first rate first class book on Desert Storm and all it flaws and back round histroy needed to give the ready a 100% understanding of the war .

Certain Victory, The Offical US Account of the the first gulf war, is a long treatise on the support and command and control efforts that went into the war, sprinkled with details of the combat operations. The book, written by Brigadier General Robert H. Scales and his staff is a poorly written, but well intentioned, attempt to convey the meaning of the work and planning that went into the war. Robert H. Scales planning and staff details are interesting, if not informative, however given the immense amount of history crammed into the first few chapters, this book does have some value to those interested in one mans perspective on the evolution of the modern army. If Robert Scales other books are anything like this one I would only recommend them to someone who is not looking for a good read but mearly searching for a book on a military reading list to tire through, this book could have been written in about a hundred and fifty pages, it is filled with drab and unexciting language. For anyone looking for an unbiased and factual history of the first Persian Gulf War I would recommend they skip this staff propaganda and instead read Rick Atkinson's Crusade, The Untold Story of the Persian Gulf War . By contrast it is a thoughtful and accurate account written by a distinguished author, unbiased by the reaction of others to his work. Not only is this book more accurate and insightful, it is also fun to read.

This book is on the HQDA Recommended Reading list! Enjoy!