Customer Reviews

The Yom Kippur War: The Arab-Israeli War of 1973 (General Military)

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

 

 

Author Simon Dunston has written a superb historical account of the the Arab -Israeli war of 1973. Better known as "The yom kippur war", this 225 page book leaves no stone unturned. On October 6th 1973, during the holiest of Jewish holiday's, Egypt and Syria launched a two front surprise attack on the nation of Israel. Wanting to regain land that were lost during the six day war of 1967, the two Arab nations caught the nation of Israel off guard and ill prepared to fight a major two front war. The Egyptians had crossed the Suez Canal and Syria launched a fierce attack on the Golan Heights, causing Israel to fight for its survival as a nation. The Gov't of Golda Meir, knew of an Arab build up of soldiers and divisions of Arab tanks along its borders, but chose to ignore it and not launch a pre-emptive strike, for fear that the world would view the Israelies as aggressors if they carried out such an attack. This was a huge military blunder, and the fact that they did not mobilize their defense forces and reserves to full alert was nothing short of military negligence. This became the Israeli Pearl Harbor that proved to have a lasting effect on that nation to this day. The nation of Israel became dependent on American airlift power to deliver supplies and weaponry during the first phase of the Arab offensive. The state of Israel, even considered the use of nuclear weapons if the situation had gotten to the point that Israel would lose her nation. The Euphoric Arab armies of Egyptian president Anwar Sadat and Syrian president Hafez Assad underestimated the IDF's[Israeli Defense Force] resolve, and paid heavily in loss of life and military hardware during the second half of the war as the Israeli's did during the first weeks of the war. Col Dani Matt led the Israeli Army across the Suez Canal on the night of Oct 15th, and changed the course of the war. A modern day version of George Washington crossing the Delaware river. General Ariel Sharon, a George Patton type of general, made the Arabs pay dearly, as the Israelies pushed the Syrians out of Israel and marched to Damascus tearing up the Syrian enemy every step of the way. On Oct 14th, Egypt launched a major offensive in the Sinai desert, and engaged the Israeli army to inflict more bloodshed, but in the biggest tank battle since ww-2 in kursk 1943, the IDF destroyed 260 Egyptian tanks to just 20 Israeli tanks. The Israeli Airforce overwhelmingly took control of the skies, as Israeli pilots scored one victory after another against Russian, Pakastani and North Korean pilots who were known to be flying jets for the Arabs. Although the IDF won this war, it came with a huge price. Loss of life and the notion of Israeli invincibility was shredded. This book is well layed out on heavy glossy paper with lots of diagrams, maps and hundreds of rare photo's from the battle front. Also many interesting facts are presented throughout the book, for example, the IDF was so desperate for survival, that they put back into service some 350 ww-2 era Sherman Tanks modified with a 105mm main gun. The tank proved to still be a formidable weapon, as the Sherman destroyed Russian T54/55 tanks in the sinai some 30 plus years after they made their debut for the allies in ww-2. It was the final war that the Sherman would engage in, and for the state of Israel, she performed heroically one more time. The war had some positive effects on the region, as Egypt and Israel have found a lasting peace. This book should be part of any good military library and is a must for any student interested in the history of the middle east. I give this book my highest recommendation and it already has a permanent place on my bookshelf.

This book provides a decent overview of the war on both the Sinai and Golan fronts. Not as gripping or dramatic as some war accounts. The point of view is almost entirely from the Israeli side of things. The author either couldn't or didn't get much perspective from the Egyptian and Syrian side of the conflict.

I was struck by the scale of the conflict. For such small countries they fielded pretty large armies. 2000 tanks on the Egyptian side and something like 1200 on the Syrian. 12,000 Egyptians (estimated) killed in a couple of weeks of fighting. Those are WWII-scale figures.

Also provides a rare glimpse into the power politics and military chess moves of the US and the Soviets during the Cold War.

Worth the used price but probably not a new hard cover price.

I don't often buy a newer edition of a book I already own, but there are reasons to do so in this case. The production quality is excellent (paper, binding, layout, etc.), well selected new photo content that adds to a greater understanding of the battle, and Simon Dunstan is worth supporting. He's excellent, and tackles the subjects so many others won't touch. Go Simon.

It is all the more surprising that the "revised and definitive edition" which I have would
contain glaring errors like:

p. 72 Marshal KUtakhov, not Kotakhov
p. 271 crediting the carrier Independene with "eight hundred" (vice eighty) aircraft on board
p. 277 confusing An-12's with An-22's. The latter are the giant (and long-range) aircraft.
They are respectively comparable to the C-130 and C-5A.
p. 356 Watergate "burst" in June, not March, 1972
p. 368. The Soviet satellites in polar orbit were launched from Plesetsk, not "Archangel"