Customer Reviews

The Yom Kippur War: And the Airlift Strike That Saved Israel

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I just finished reading "The Two O'Clock War." I enjoyed the "behind the scenes" coverage of the mighty US Air Lift that enabled Israel to continue in the fight to secure a place at the negotiating table when the tank cannons would be silenced on the Golan and in the Sinai! I learned a lot about Kissinger, Nixon and the US's attitude toward the "Oil Weapon" as it relates to Israel. I also chuckled over the author's seemingly anti-Sharon stance all throughout the book! Though the author has little to praise "Arik" Sharon for, he concludes with the statement that Sharon is the kinda guy you want fighting with you and not against you. It is kinda a "can't live with em...can't live without em..." situation. The book is worth the read and the Epilouge itself is worth the price of the book. I thought that Boyne made too much about the US going to DEFCON III. It seemed a bit over the top! Buy it, read it, learn from it! Four Stars (He could have had much more about the US Airlift from the perspective of the USAF).

The premise that the US airlift "saved" Israel during the Yom Kippur war is false. The author needs to get the facts right. Obviously the airlift helped and facilitated the Israeli counterattack (allowing greater freedom to plan military strikes), but the reason for Israel surviving the war were: 1) poor strategic planning by the Arab armies AFTER the war had started (up til that point, they demonstrated brilliant planning) and a misreading of the situation on the battlefield 2) surprising tenacity on the part of the Israeli forces, although they were clearly ill-prepared for the well-coordinated attack and 3) Syria urging Egypt to abandon what, 'til then, was an effective battle plan. If it weren't for these three facts, then the war would have taken a very different course and surely the US airlift would have been a lifesaver.

This book explained in great detail the events that took place in Israel's 1973 war. From the date and time of every skirmish to the name of every war machine, Walter Boyne accounts for every part of this war. I thought at some parts that the book was just fact after fact and it began to get a bit dry but I do appreciate just how much detail was included. The book includes a few pages of pictures showing key people, key events and multiple aircraft. This book showed how the extent of the United States willingness to provide Israel with supplies and the rising tensions between the two major superpowers of the Cold war. My knowledge of the Yom Kippur War has increased immensely. I have a greater understanding of how both sides were so well equipped to fight a war. I now realize the importance of the US airlift and how Israel might not even be a country to this day if we didn't intervene. With Israeli border disputes being a current event, I thought it was interesting seeing how some of these conflicts continue to effect the world today. I don't think that this was the most interesting read, but I do respect the historical accuracy it provided.

I read almost all what is in the market about Yom Kippur War and this book is childish than ex comunist propaganda books!
Mr Boyne - leave tha tanks alone! You have not an idea, what the tank is!! (Ti-67 with US fire control?????????)