Customer Reviews

Killing Zone: A Professional’s Guide To Preparing Or Preventing Ambushes

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The book does a fine job of expounding on the tactics of the ambusher. The main focus is on the methods of the VC in the Vietnam War. With respect to the VC the authors give an excellent breakdown of ambush categories and countermeasures. The discussion of the urban ambush or kidnapping is somewhat lacking. While the general comments regarding jungle ambushes can be applied to urban situations there is little material specifically about urban ambushes. The latter part of the book is a summary of some famous terrorist and Vietnam ambushes. The terrorist attacks featured range from the early 1980s to the mid 1990s. These summaries are without much detail and it's not always clear how the general ambush definitions provided by the authors relate to them. The only dissappointment lies in the insufficient exposition of modern urban ambushes and their countermeasures. It's probably an excellent study of jungle warfare by the Viet Cong. Perhaps the scope and purpose of the book are not well defined in that the book purports to be a definitive guide for both urban and jungle ambushes. Sabin Smith

As a former Brown Water Sailor on a river assault boat (River Assault Division 92) in the Mekong Delta in the Republic of South Vietnam, in 1968 and 1969 myself and my fellow sailors were frequently ambushed, often at point blank range, resulting in sailors being killed or wounded. Those ambushing us were both professional and dedicated. Thinking back to those few times I can remember (I have been successful in blocking out many of these events) and reading this book I have been able to connect what happened to me these 40 years ago with direct correlation to what must have been happening on the other side on those very dark canals.

This book is detailed, well organized, well written and easy to read.