Customer Reviews

The Heights of Courage: A Tank Leader's War On the Golan

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have served in Iraq and Kosovo as an officer in the US Army and this is one of the best accounts of Tank Warfare I have ever come across. It was mandatory reading in my Military History Class at West Point.

After reading this book, I felt as if I had walked in the author's shoes and seen the war from his prospective. I could not believe that his Brigade Commander gave him only a few hours to attack into Syria.... amazing.

What is truly compelling to learn how Israelis viewed this war in a much different way from Americans. If an American is sent to war, it usually requires a one week boat ride or a 24 hour+ flight. Loved ones are a distant memory an ocean away. For the author and his men, defeat meant that their wives and children would die too, for they were living only a few hours behind the front line soldiers.

I recommend this book for anyone who wants a glimpse at modern war from the eyes of a soldier and commander. Kahalani does a fine job at recording the details of one tank battalion's perspective of the 1973 war. He captures the essense of the desperate nature of the Israeli battle on the Golan. Detailed accounts and conversations draw the reader into the story.

To start,"Heights of Courage" is an outstanding book, and a very personally told story of what it is to lead and fight in armored combat. The best parts of this book come in three chapters, where Kahalani relived experiences of getting hit and wounded in Egypt, moving mounted in tanks through a village,and when Kahalani relives the attack into Syrian territory. I had to rate this book lower, becuase i was highly dissapointed in two things. 1. Kahalani constantly refers to units by individuals names...which can be confusing as to whether he is speaking of the Division Commander or his Tank driver. 2. the book is totally lacking in Maps or tactical drawings to clarify the situations he is describing. The scale of the 3 maps provided is so great and lacking in detail, that one can not gain any aspect of the lower unit tactical situation, and are truly political, not military maps.

I read this book in Hebrew. Avigdor Kahalani is one of the great soldiers in the history of Israel. He was close to death from wounds on the field of battle, and yet came back to fight another war. The action of Kahalani and his men on the Golan Heights during the first days of the Yom Kippur War helped save the State of Israel. Kahalani is a soldier's soldier who does not idealize war but presents it in all its confusion, disorder, dirt and difficulty. He tells his story straightforwardly and clearly . Those more experienced than myself have said that this is one of the best books about combat that they have ever read. It is also a book about real heroism and character and how they truly do exist in the world.

Undoubtedly this is one of the greatest, most well written battle stories of our time. This is an excellent first-hand account by one who was there and experienced the fighting from beginning to end. A brilliant book written from the vantage point of the men actually fighting on the front line.

This is the absorbing story of a Unit Commander of Battalion 77 of the Israeli Army, fighting against incredible odds against numerically superior and better equipped Syrian forces on the Golan Heights, during the Yom Kippur War of 1973.

The author, Avigdor Kahalani (who received Israel's highest military decoration - the Medal Of Honour), reveals and transmits the fears, traumas and other aspects of human behaviour experienced during the often unbearable stresses of battle.

We are provided with detailed accounts of how a few courageous men and their leaders, prevailed against desperate, apparently insurmountable odds.

This in the context of a failure by Israel to recognise the Arab threat, to sufficiently mobilise in time and thereby being forced to face immense enemy offensive actions with only a small standing force of regulars.

The author provides an analysis of the tactics used, initially just to contain the Syrian offensive & survive, and then to counter-attack resulting in a victory which forced the Syrians to sue for a ceasefire.

This is the compelling story of an elite brigade, from the Commanding Officer through to the soldiers on the ground, who defeated the Syrian forces and succeeded in destroying all the Syrian tanks that had penetrated the Golan Heights.

A breathless read which proceeds at a lightning pace. I highly recommend this book, it really is a first class read.

I also recommend another book on this subject entitled, "Duel For The Golan; The 100 Hour Battle That Saved Israel" by Jerry Asher/Eric Hammel. To fully understand the Yom Kippur War, one really needs to understand what occurred on the Golan Heights and the possible repercussions of an Israeli defeat. These two books will provide an excellent reference on this subject.

The book is an easy (and quick) read. However, the author doesn't take much time to go into detail about equipment or tactics. It's a very basic memoir about the difficulties of moving a tank force around from place to place in order to meet a numerically overwhelming enemy, especially when moving at night with very little in the way of modern western war technology. Impressive book none the less. If you like military history, and are interested in a single person's perspective of a few battles in the Arab-Israeli war, then this would be a good read.

General Geroge S. Patton would have loved to have lived long enough to read the account of this tank battle...........

In 1973, the Syrians and Egpytians invaded Isreal. They came remarkably close to winning. Just how close is revealed in this book. Avigdor Kahalani was the Battalion Commander of the now infamous Isaeli 7th Tank Battalion. Ever wonder what it is like to face ten to one odds? This book will teach you that and more.

Everyday soldiers and tankers become heroes. Fighting outnumbered, these men barely held on to the Golan heights against the Syrians. Superior training, backs to the wall, exhausted beyond endurance, Kahalani puts you in the turret. You feel the heat, the fear, the admiration of the enemy tankers who keep coming despite their heavy losses. The "Valley of Tears" was littered with Syrian tanks destroyed by the Israelis.

The maps are not the greatest, but the photos are good. The best is just reading about these few men who turned an almost certain defeat into victory. Days after the attack, the Israeli's made a counter attack and almost captured the Syrian Capital of Damascus. A cease fire was quickly arranged by the US and Soviets.

Excellent reading for any Armor buff, student of armored/desert warfare, anyone interested in heroic battles fought against all odds.

I'm an active duty armour officer, I've never been in combat, so for me was very emotionaly to read this book and see how the author describes the action and all the situations product of a real war.

The Heights of Courage (Kindle Edition)

This book details the desperate struggle of Israel in the Yom Kippur War of 1973 by someone who was actually there. The books main focus is on the first few days of the war, but includes a medium-sized slice, and a small-sized slice, of events before the war and later on in it respectively.

As others have noted, there is not a lot military-specific (.e.g. equipment) details, and it can get quite confusing with all the names. In addition, Kahalani's incredible skills and sheer luck make it seem almost easy, and some may feel therefore that the story is too sanitised.

However this double's as a plus: he does not use sorrowful or graphic language to elicit sympathy or gain credit in the anti-war camp: he simply tells it as it is, knowing what would happen if they failed, and for this victory there is indeed a terrible, terrible price that he, along with the nation, must pay.

Nevertheless, Kahalani proves that ordinary men can do the most extraordinary things and the flaws in the book are not enough to overcome the fact that not only is the book clean and mostly easy to read - meaning that anybody can read it - but quite simply that everybody should.

Highly recommended.