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Robert Michael Citino
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Blitzkrieg to Desert Storm: The Evolution of Operational Warfare Hardcover – April 25, 2004

by Robert M. Citino (Author)
4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 46 ratings
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When Germany launched its blitzkrieg invasion of France in 1940, it forever changed the way the world waged war. Although the Wehrmacht ultimately succumbed to superior Allied firepower in a two-front war, its stunning operational achievement left a lasting impression on military commanders throughout the world, even if their own operations were rarely executed as effectively.

Robert Citino analyzes military campaigns from the second half of the twentieth century to further demonstrate the difficulty of achieving decisive results at the operational level. Offering detailed operational analyses of actual campaigns, Citino describes how UN forces in Korea enjoyed technological and air superiority but found the enemy unbeatable; provides analyses of Israeli operational victories in successive wars until the Arab states finally grasped the realities of operational-level warfare in 1973; and tells how the Vietnam debacle continued to shape U.S. doctrine in surprising ways. Looking beyond major-power conflicts, he also reveals the lessons of India's blitzkrieg-like drive into Pakistan in 1971 and of the senseless bloodletting of the Iran-Iraq War.

Citino especially considers the evolution of U.S. doctrine and assesses the success of Desert Storm in dismantling an entrenched defending force with virtually no friendly casualties. He also provides one of the first scholarly analyses of Operation Iraqi Freedom, showing that its plan was curiously divorced from the realities of military history, grounded instead on nebulous theories about expected enemy behavior. Throughout Citino points to the importance of mobility—especially mobilized armor—in modern operational warfare and assesses the respective roles of firepower, training, doctrine, and command and control mechanisms.

Brimming with new insights, Citino's study shows why technical superiority is no guarantee of victory and why a thorough grounding in the history of past campaigns is essential to anyone who wishes to understand modern warfare. Blitzkrieg to Desert Storm provides that grounding as it addresses the future of operational-level warfare in the post-9/11 era.
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  1. Part of series
    Modern War Studies
  2. Print length
    430 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    University Press of Kansas
  5. Publication date
    April 25, 2004
  6. Dimensions
    6.4 x 1.5 x 9.38 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    0700613005
  8. ISBN-13
    978-0700613007
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"An excellent book that should be read and digested by every professional soldier. Works of this nature represent the ‘book’ referred to by the late von Schlieffen, and it is imperative that we all continue to increase our knowledge of the art and science of war."—Armor

"Citino is insightful, provocative, and unstinting in his analysis of doctrine. . . . Soldiers who take the time to read Robert Citino’s book carefully will find themselves sometimes irritated, sometimes embarrassed as they recall their own shortcomings, but always stimulated by Citino’s fast-paced narrative and logical argument."—Parameters

"A superlative and important book, well written, exhaustively researched, and exquisitely balanced. The author is a skilled military historian who brilliantly examines the operational art from its conceptual beginnings through its successes and failures from the 1930s to the 1990s. . . . Citino is unsparingly critical when he needs to be of the U.S. Army. . . . Essential reading at all American war colleges."—Washington Times



“Vivid, incisive, laced with trenchant observations, Blitzkrieg to Desert Storm is a remarkable—even brilliant—study of war at the operational level, emphasizing the importance of intangibles and the elusiveness of decisive victory.”—Andrew J. Bacevich, author of American Empire

“An important addition to the current debate over what direction U.S. military doctrine should take, this book brings back into focus the central role of operational-level warfare in military thought.”—James S. Corum, author of The Roots of Blitzkrieg

“A superb survey by a sophisticated military historian.”—Jonathan M. House, author of Combined Arms Warfare in the Twentieth Century

“Interesting, informative and insightful.”—Andrew F. Krepinevich author of The Army and Vietnam

From the Inside Flap

"Vivid, incisive, laced with trenchant observations, Blitzkrieg to Desert Storm is a remarkable even brilliant study of war at the operational level, emphasizing the importance of intangibles and the elusiveness of decisive victory."--Andrew J. Bacevich, author of American Empire

"An important addition to the current debate over what direction U.S. military doctrine should take, this book brings back into focus the central role of operational-level warfare in military thought."--James S. Corum, author of The Roots of Blitzkrieg

"A superb survey by a sophisticated military historian."--Jonathan M. House, author of Combined Arms Warfare in the Twentieth Century

"Interesting, informative and insightful."--Andrew F. Krepinevich, author of The Army and Vietnam

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ University Press of Kansas; First Edition (April 25, 2004)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 430 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0700613005
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0700613007
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.72 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.4 x 1.5 x 9.38 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 46 ratings

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Robert Michael Citino

Robert Michael Citino

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Customer reviews

4.8 out of 5 stars
46 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

SRS
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent!
Reviewed in the United States on August 11, 2023
Verified Purchase
Great experience. Fast shipping and the product is better than described.
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Richard Peterson
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Operational Analysis
Reviewed in the United States on February 25, 2008
Verified Purchase
In this follow-on to the author's "Quest for Decisive Victory", Citino analyzes how armies from World War 2 on achieved or failed to achieve decisive victories, including many cases rarely mentioned in other military histories. Although not quite meeting the extremely high standard set by the earlier book, it is still an outstanding book. Its footnotes will tell you what books to read to learn more about a particular campaign, and giving the strengths and weaknesses of each, which I think is extremely helpful. If you have any interest in an operational analysis of modern campaigns, but this book.
2 people found this helpful
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W. W. Turnbow
5.0 out of 5 stars A "good'un"..........well worth your time.
Reviewed in the United States on November 12, 2014
Verified Purchase
This is a scholarly work. Citino briefly relates military operations in virtually all conflicts during this time period. He then draws conclusions from each conflict and then leads to a grand conclusion and a slight peek into the future. His observations and opinions are well thought out and, whether you agree with him or not, are worthy of consideration. I wish all of our military leaders and, most certainly, all of our politicians would read this one.
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Phillip E. Sawyer
5.0 out of 5 stars A excellent read!!
Reviewed in the United States on August 15, 2018
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A marvelous book! You will learn a lot!
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Jamie H.
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on November 19, 2015
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Got an a on my college paper
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1.
5.0 out of 5 stars an execellent military history of the last sixty years
Reviewed in the United States on February 21, 2004
Robert Citino has written an excellent military history that has descibed the development of combined arms warfare. The first section of the book, Citino compares the military doctrines of the United States, Germany, Britain, and Russia during the Second World War. Citino believes that German military doctrine was severely flawed since it was mainly adaptable to wars in Western and Central Europe and did not make logicistical provisions for the campaigns in North Africa and Russia. Citino also praises Russian military doctrine for being able to plan for the mass encirclements of the German army in 1943-1945, but criticizes the Russians for lacking personal intiative in combat. Citino also criticizes the British for only attacking with tanks and showing no personal intiative on the battlefield. However Citino praises the American for being flexible and massing their forces on a single point during Operation Cobra.
The second part of the book, Citino praises the personal freedom allowed officers to conduct battle in the Israeli and Indian armies and writes about the lackluster performance of the Iraqi and Iranian armies that lacked competent officers. In the closing chapters of the book, Citino believes that the victory in Operation Desert Storm was due to superior firepower as well as tactics while Operation Iraqi Freedom was dangerously based on the assumption of internal rebellion and was eventually won by the use of armor. I would reccomend this book for anyone who believes that technology can replace officership and armor.
22 people found this helpful
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Luis Contreras
5.0 out of 5 stars Professor Cintino, please offer this in Kindle format!
Reviewed in the United States on January 9, 2013
Professor, you should offer this book in the format to be used by Kindle. Thank you!

I'm sure you might get more purchases too.
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James D. Pollard
3.0 out of 5 stars A good, concise history of mobile motorized/mechanized/armored operations since 1939
Reviewed in the United States on July 18, 2016
Verified Purchase
A good, concise history of mobile motorized/mechanized/armored operations since 1939. Well written, but I don't think there's much here that can't be gotten elsewhere.
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