Synopses & Reviews
The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait on August 2, 1990, unleashed a conflict that had both diplomatic and military fronts. Using contemporary accounts and recently released military documents, Col. Arthur H. Blair, USA (Ret.), traces both fronts as they developed day by day. Efforts to avoid war, coalition formation, mobilization of public support, military build-up in a foreign desert--all of these aspects of Desert Shield are presented in clear detail. Then, from the beginning of the air war through the final ground assault, Blair recounts troop movements, tactics, munitions, and casualties leading to the unconditional surrender of Saddam Hussein on February 8, 1991.
With military maps of principal troop movements and photographs of many of the stunningly accurate aircraft and tanks involved, this chronology puts into sequence and perspective the dramatic events that reshaped global alliances, revitalized the United Nations, and brought victory to the American military. Blair, a twenty-seven-year veteran of the U.S. Army, with combat experience in Korea and Vietnam, is now deputy director of the Mosher Institute for Defense Studies at Texas AandM University and served as a media analyst and commentator during the Gulf crisis. His clear and concise description will provide context and a starting point for scholars, students, and analysts of the war and of the U.S. military. For those who cared about and tried to follow this first technological war as it happened, it brings order and sense to what was at the time a desert whirlwind.
Review
"Colonel Art Blair has written a fascinating chronology covering the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, Desert Shield, Desert Storm and the Coalition victory. At War in the Gulf is immensely interesting and will serve as the seminal piece for those who seek an accurate, balanced view of this important, historical event. I strongly recommend it as `must reading' for serious students of foreign affairs and defense issues."--Lt. Gen. Lloyd R. Leavitt, USAF (Ret.)
About the Author
Arthur H. Blair, Colonel United States Army (Ret), graduated from the U.S. Military Academy before beginning his career in the service. He earned masters degrees in civil engineering from the California Institute of Technology and literature from the University of Pennsylvania and the Ph.D. in British and American literature from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has taught at Texas AandM University, the Citadel and the U.S. Military Academy.