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The War Memoirs
by Charles de GaulleThe complete war memoirs of the resistance leader Charles de Gaulle, who led France out of its darkest hour during the Nazi occupation during World War II.&“Faced with the political disaster, I had to become France.&” This was how Charles de Gaulle answered the call of history. One of the few French battlefield leaders to have distinguished himself in May 1940, he had become the undersecretary of state for national defense. But when the government rejected his calls to fight on and prepared to capitulate to Hitler, he escaped to London. There he instigated a resistance calling on &“all the French who want to remain free to listen to me and follow me&” in the legendary radio address of June 22. He was sentenced to death in absentia as his country made a disgraceful peace, but his Free France movement rallied people around the world to resist German occupation and fight for the liberation of Europe. Originally published in three volumes, The War Memoirs of Charles de Gaulle is the story of the resurrection of France from its darkest hour collaborating with Hitler and the Nazi empire. The first section, &“The Call,&” examines the years leading up to France&’s defeat and the confusion and despair triggered by Hitler&’s blitzkrieg. The second section, &“Unity,&” describes de Gaulle&’s struggles to rally the French in both Africa and underground movements throughout Europe, and often bitter conflicts with the Allied leaders as he sought legitimacy and resources. &“Salvation,&” the final installment, chronicles the turning of the tide of war against Nazi Germany, de Gaulle&’s triumphant return to France, and the reincarnation of the French Republic as a major international presence. De Gaulle&’s great prophecy of 1940 had been fulfilled: France had lost a battle, but she did not lose the war.
War Memoirs of David Lloyd George, Vol. I (War Memoirs of David Lloyd George #1)
by David Lloyd George“Mr. Lloyd George’s War Memoirs constitute a record of unfading historic interest….No one who wishes to be well informed about the Great War should fail to study them.”—Rt. Hon. Winston S. ChurchillA personal account of World War I events, as told from the perspective of David Lloyd George, former Chancellor of the Exchequer (1908-1915), Minister of Munitions (1915-1916), Secretary of State of War (1916) and, towards war end, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1916-1922).
War Memoirs of David Lloyd George, Vol. II (War Memoirs of David Lloyd George #2)
by David Lloyd GeorgeA personal account of World War I events, as told from the perspective of David Lloyd George, former Chancellor of the Exchequer (1908-1915), Minister of Munitions (1915-1916), Secretary of State of War (1916) and, towards war end, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1916-1922).“Mr. Lloyd George’s War Memoirs constitute a record of unfading historic interest….No one who wishes to be well informed about the Great War should fail to study them.”—Rt. Hon. Winston S. Churchill
War Memories: Commemoration, Recollections, and Writings on War (Human Dimensions in Foreign Policy, Military Studies, and Security Studies)
by Stéphanie A.H. Bélanger Renée DickasonWar Memories explores the patchwork formed by collective memory, public remembrance, private recollection, and the ways in which they form a complex composition of observations, initiatives, and experiences. Offering an international perspective on war commemoration, contributors consider the process of assembling historical facts and subjective experiences to show how these points of view diverge according to various social, cultural, political, and historical perspectives. Encompassing the representations of wars in the English-speaking world over the last hundred years, this collection presents an extensive, yet integrated, reflection on various types of commemoration and interpretations of events. Essays respond to common questions regarding war memory: how and why do we remember war? What does commemoration tell us about the actors in wars? How does commemoration reflect contemporary society’s culture of war? War Memories disseminates current knowledge on the performance, interpretation, and rewriting of facts and events during and after wars, while focusing on how patriotic fervour, resistance, conscientious objection, injury, trauma, and propaganda contribute to the shaping of individual and collective memory. Contributors include Joan Beaumont (Australian National University, Canberra), Gilles Chamerois (University of Brest, France), Subarno Chattarji (University of Delhi, India), Nicole Cloarec (Rennes 1 University, France), Corinne David-Ives (European University of Brittany – Rennes 2, France), Jeffrey Demsky (San Bernardino Valley College, California), Sam Edwards (Manchester Metropolitan University), Georges Fournier (Jean Moulin University, France), Annie Gagiano (University of Stellenbosch, South Africa), David Haigron (Rennes 2 University, France), Judith Keene (University of Sydney, Australia), Melissa King (San Bernardino Valley College, California), Christine Knauer (Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Germany), Liliane Louvel (University of Poitiers), Michelle P. Moore (Canadian Army Doctrine and Training Centre, Kingston, Ontario), John Mullen (University of Rouen, France), Lorie-Anne Duech-Rainville (Caen University, France), Elizabeth Rechniewski (Australian Research Council Discovery Project), Raphaël Ricaud (University ‘Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense’, France), Laura Robinson (Royal Military College of Canada), and Isabelle Roblin (Université du Littoral-Côte d’Opale, France).
War Memory and East Asian Conflicts, 1930–1945 (Entangled Memories in the Global South)
by Eveline Buchheim Jennifer CoatesThis book explores how narratives, exhibitions, media representations, and cultural heritage sites that communicate memories of conflicts in East Asia between 1930 and 1945 spread, interact, and are re-packaged for post-war audiences across national divisions. The contributors examine individual case studies of grassroots engagement with war memory, and collectively demonstrate the necessity of remaining aware of the researcher as participating in another kind of engagement with war memory. Contributions showcase a number of ways of doing research on war memory, alongside case studies from diverse regions of the world. Taken together, they bring a fresh perspective to scholarship on war memory, which has tended to focus on space, text, exhibition, or personal narrative, rather than bringing these elements into dialogue with one another.
War, Memory and the Politics of Humor: The Canard Enchaîné and World War I
by Allen DouglasA cultural history of Le Canard Enchaîné, the famous French satirical newspaper, from its founding during World War I through the 1920s.
A War Minister And His Work: Reminiscences Of 1914-1918 [Illustrated Edition]
by General Hermann Von SteinIncludes the First World War Illustrations Pack - 73 battle plans and diagrams and 198 photosEven before the advent of the First World War, General Der Artillerie Hermann Von Stein, had had a long and distinguished career in the Prussian Army stretching back to 1873. He served in various artillery and staff posts and rubbed shoulders with the heads of the General Staff such as Von Schlieffen, both Von Moltkes and Von Waldersee (of whom he includes portraits in this volume). In 1914 he was appointed to the 14th Reserve Corps which advanced with 2nd Army as part of the right hook through northern France before being bogged down in the stalemate of the trenches of the Western Front. He and his men were those who stubbornly defended Thiepval during the bloody battle of the Somme in 1916. After his successful field commands he was appointed War Minister for Prussia, a post that he held until the end of the war. His reminiscences offer a little seen view of the German High Command during the First World War.
The War Minstrels
by Karen HaberKate N. Shadow was the name empath Kayla John Reed took when she was forced to flee her home planet and join the crew of the Falstaff, a "merchant" spaceship that stretched the limits of legal shipping beyond the breaking point. But even the Falstaff could not remain a haven for much longer, not when the forces of magnate Pelleas Karlson and empathy Yates Keller were out to put an end to all the Free Traders who currently plied the spaceways.Kate had nearly fallen victim to the Groupmind controlled by Yates in her last devastating encounter with this ruthless enemy. And with her own empathic talents greatly weakened as a result, she knew that she would need to draw on resources far beyond her own to help the rebel troops known as the War Minstrels in their bid to break Karlson's control of the spaceways. Kate's only hope lay in finding the Mindstar, a mindstone of legendary proportions which could give its successful wielder infinite power - or suck the very life out of anyone who tried to master it and failed...
The War Moves East
by StrategicusVeteran journalist and military commentator “Strategicus” continues his contemporaneous history of the Second World War in “The War Moves East”. Starting with the German offensive against Kiev and Leningrad the book follows the most successful period of the Wehrmacht in the East up to their final repulse before Moscow. In the deserts of Africa Rommel drives his Afrika Korps forward and in the Far East the Japanese run amok against American, Chinese and British Forces. The author ties all of these threads together in a highly readable volume that still stands up as very accurate history.
War Narratives and the American National Will in War
by Jeffrey J. KubiakWith the U. S. war in Afghanistan in its twelfth year, axioms regarding the American national will in war not being able to tolerate anything other than quick and costless adventures have been found useless in understanding why the U. S. continues to persist in that endeavor. This book answers complex questions about modern US intervention abroad.
War Narratives in Post-Conflict Societies: Keeping the Past Alive in the former Yugoslavia (Contemporary Security Studies)
by Michal MochtakThis book studies war narratives and their role in the political arenas of post-conflict societies, with a focus on the former Yugoslavia.How do politicians in postwar societies talk about the past war? How do they discursively represent vulnerable social groups created by the conflict? Does the nature of this representation depend on the politicians’ ideology, personal characteristics, or their record of combat service? The book answers these questions by pairing natural language processing tools and large corpora of parliamentary debates collected in three southeast European post-conflict societies (Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, and Serbia). Using the latest advances in computer science, the book explores patterns in the war discourse of the political elites of these countries and discusses how politicians talk about war in terms of common narratives and shared frameworks. Mapping over 20 years of parliamentary debates, the book presents a new perspective on the role of the legacies of war in public space and develops theoretical arguments about reconciliation in post-conflict societies. The wars of the 1990s and the breakup of Yugoslavia have created three totally different settings for remembering the past conflicts in these countries, despite their common history. It is a story of victorious battles (Croatia), past grievances (Bosnia-Herzegovina), and denial (Serbia), showing the different flavors of past wars in various national contexts that are symptomatic of many post-conflict societies in different parts of the world.This book will be of much interest to students of war and conflict studies, southeastern European politics, discourse analysis, and international relations.
War Nerd
by Gary BrecherSelf-described war nerd Gary Brecher knows he's not alone, that there's a legion of fat, lonely Americans, stuck in stupid, paper-pushing desk jobs, who get off on reading about war because they hate their lives. But Brecher writes about war, too. War Nerd collects his most opinionated, enraging, enlightening, and entertaining pieces. Part war commentator, part angry humorist àla Bill Hicks, Brecher inveighs against pieties of all stripes - Liberian generals, Dick Cheney, U.N. peacekeepers, the neo-cons - and the massive incompetence of military powers. A provocative free thinker, he finds much to admire in the most unlikely places, and not always for the most pacifistic reasons: the Tamil Tigers, the Lebanese Hezbollah, the Danes of 1,000 years ago, and so on, across the globe and through the centuries. Crude, scatological, un-P.C., yet deeply informed, Brecher provides a radically different, completely unvarnished perspective on the nature of warfare.
War No More: Library of America #278
by James Carroll Lawrence RosenwaldAn unprecedented gathering of the essential texts of the American antiwar tradition: from the Revolution to the war on terror, over 150 eloquent, provocative voices for peace. An unequalled military superpower responsible for the atomic bomb--involved, since its founding, in wars too numerous to list--the United States has also produced an astonishing antiwar literature. At every turn in our history, from the Revolution to the war on terror, a diverse chorus of voices has questioned and resisted both particular wars and justifications for war in general. They have begged, prayed, demanded, and in some instances suffered heroically to make an alternative case. Can we not imagine and hasten a world, they have asked, in which war is a thing of the barbaric past, and peace will prevail, this time and the next? War No More gathers the essays, letters, speeches, memoirs, poems, stories, and songs of over 150 writers spanning almost three centuries. It offers an unprecedented view of a powerful and perennially relevant American tradition, encompassing five-star generals, theologians, nuclear physicists, folk singers, signers of the declaration, quietists, anarchists, veterans, and Nobel laureates. Some have objected on the basis of conscience, inspired by Christian example or other faiths; some have been animated by parallel struggles against racism, capitalism, or the excessive power of the state; some have been moved by the loss of sons, daughters, or comrades, or their personal experience of war's horror. Collectively, they have confronted the proposition that war is inevitable, a necessary price of prosperity or liberty. Their challenge remains an open one, and their words ought to concern every American.From the Hardcover edition.
War Nurse: The Diary of Kitty Langley, 1939-1940 (My Story)
by Sue ReidThis is the diary of Kitty, an 18-year-old VAD (Voluntary Aid Detachment), during the years of 1939 and 1940. As a nurse working in the military hospitals in the south of England, Kitty sees at close hand the effects of war - notably the casualties of Dunkirk. The diary details the historical events and describes the day to day life of a young VAD in a military hospital in WWII. It's also a story about growing up. She is a girl transposed from a comfortable protected existence into the harsher world of a wartime hospital who begins to learn a bit about life and relationships.
The War Nurse: A Novel
by Tracey Enerson Wood"Any readers who enjoyed the mix of romance, intrigue, and medical accuracy of Call the Midwife will love The War Nurse."—New York Journal of Books"[An] impeccably researched, well-drawn, based-on-a-true-story tale, written by a former RN...The War Nurse shines an important light on a woman whose story was, until now, lost to time."—Kristin Harmel, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Lost NamesBased on a true story, The War Nurse is a sweeping historical novel by USA Today bestselling author Tracey Enerson Wood that takes readers on an unforgettable journey through WWI France.She asked dozens of young women to lay their lives on the line during the Great War. Can she protect them?Superintendent of Nurses Julia Stimson must recruit sixty-four nurses to relieve the battle-worn British, months before American troops are ready to be deployed. She knows that the young nurses serving near the front lines will face a challenging situation, but nothing could have prepared her for the chaos that awaits when they arrive at British Base Hospital 12 in Rouen, France. The primitive conditions, a convoluted, ineffective system, and horrific battle wounds are enough to discourage the most hardened nurses, and Julia can do nothing but lead by example—even as the military doctors undermine her authority and make her question her very place in the hospital tent.When trainloads of soldiers stricken by a mysterious respiratory illness arrive one after the other, overwhelming the hospital's limited resources, and threatening the health of her staff, Julia faces an unthinkable choice—to step outside the bounds of her profession and risk the career she has fought so hard for, or to watch the people she cares for most die in her arms.Fans of Martha Hall Kelly's Lost Roses and Marie Benedict's Lady Clementine will devour this mesmerizing celebration of some of the most overlooked heroes in history: the fierce, determined, and brave nurses who treated soldiers in World War I.Praise for The War Nurse:"Through careful research, this book shows the incredible bravery and compassion of women who find themselves in extraordinary situations."—Julia Kelly, international bestselling author of The Last Garden in England and The Light Over London"A rich, gripping history of one woman's lifelong battle against systemic prejudice."—Stewart O'Nan, award-winning author of The Good Wife"Once again, Tracey Enerson Wood, with her impeccable research and evocative prose, kept me glued to the page. Wood has a talent for bringing strong, yet lesser-known women from history, to life."—Linda Rosen, author of The Disharmony of Silence"A riveting and surprisingly timely story of courage, sacrifice, and friendship forged at the front lines."—Kelly Mustian, author of The Girls in the Stilt House"If you, like me, are a voyeur of historical drama that unfolds as if the kitchen window flew open and the characters were caught in action, then The War Nurse is for you."—Diane Dewey, author of Fixing the Fates"Fans of Patricia Harman will love Wood's treatment of medical expertise in a historical setting."—Booklist
A War Nurse’s Diary; Sketches From A Belgian Field Hospital [Illustrated Edition]
by Anon.Illustrated with 33 photos of the author's comrades, adventures and hospitals.When war broke out in 1914, it was imagined in Britain that the war with Germany would be short and the need for nursing staff over in France would be low as there should be very few casualties. The author, a trained nurse from the Northern Midlands in England, decided that she would volunteer her services immediately, but was rebuffed by the Red Cross and St John's Ambulance on the basis that they had almost one nurse for every soldier in the field. Not to be deterred, she responded to an advert which read: "Ten nurses wanted at once for Antwerp; must be voluntary." And off to Belgium she went in August 1914.It was to be in Belgium that so many of these rosy presumptions that were held by many were shattered early in the autumn of 1914, as the German steamroller thumped into the Allied forces. In its wake the huge numbers of wounded flooded into the hospitals in Belgium where our author was inundated with work. As the Germans moved forward, she and her fellow hospital staff were moved backward from Antwerp, where she was briefly caught up in the siege, escaping to Ghent, Bruges, Ostend and thence to France. She tended to the wounded amidst the carnage of war almost unceasingly until a year later when she left France for England in October 1915.
The War of 1812 (The\chicago History Of American Civilization Ser. #Vol. 22)
by Harry L. Coles The Chicago History of American CivilizationThis compact history of the war attempts to separate myth from reality. Professor Coles narrates the main operations on both land and sea of the three-year struggle. He examines the conflict from the British (and Canadian) as well as the American point of view, relating events in America to the larger war going on in Europe. "A balanced analysis of tactics and strategy, this book also summarizes succinctly and clearly recent scholarship on causes and describes briefly the war's military, economic, and political consequences. Coles has surveyed thoroughly the existing literature but arrives at a number of independent judgments. It is the best single-volume account of the war in all its aspects. In recounting sea battles, Coles puts aside the patriotic blinders that have for so long prevented a sensible understanding of American capabilities and strategic necessities; thus American naval victories are put in a proper perspective. And in dealing with land engagements, he has shunned the mocking and amused attitude which has so often passed for historical judgment. Undergraduates will be stimulated by the hints of modern parallels and will find useful the excellent annotated bibliography and simple maps."—Choice
The War of 1812: An Annotated Bibliography (Routledge Research Guides to American Military Studies)
by John GrodzinskiJohn R. Grodzinski’s volume in the Routledge Research Guides to American Military Studies covers the origins of the War of 1812 - the major post-revolutionary conflict fought between the United States and the British Empire - providing a general overview of the significant battles that occurred at sea and in the area of the present-day Great Lakes and U.S.-Canadian border. The key features of this research guide are the bibliographical elements, namely lists of published books, articles, and on-line resources pertaining to the War of 1812, as well as references to archival resources available in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada. The War of 1812 is a valuable supplementary resource for institutional libraries on both sides of the Atlantic.
The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict (Bicentennial Edition)
by Donald R HickeyThis comprehensive and authoritative history of the War of 1812, thoroughly revised for the 200th anniversary of the historic conflict, is a myth-shattering study that will inform and entertain students, historians, and general readers alike. Donald R. Hickey explores the military, diplomatic, and domestic history of our second war with Great Britain, bringing the study up to date with recent scholarship on all aspects of the war, from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada. The newly expanded The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict, Bicentennial Edition includes additional information on the British forces, American Indians, and military operations such as the importance of logistics and the use and capabilities of weaponry. Hickey explains how the war promoted American nationalism and manifest destiny, stimulated peacetime defense spending, and enhanced America's reputation abroad. He also shows that the war sparked bloody conflicts between pro-war Republican and anti-war Federalist neighbors, dealt a crippling blow to American Indians, and solidified the United States's antipathy toward the British.
The War of 1812: The War That Both Sides Won
by Wesley B. TurnerTragedy and farce, bravery and cowardice, intelligence and foolishness, sense and nonsense - all these contradictions and more have characterized the War of 1812. The real significance of the series of skirmishes that collectively made up the war between 1812 and 1814 is the enormous impact they have had on Canadian and American views of themselves and of each other. The publication of The War of 1812: The War That Both Sides Won in 1990 provided a contemporary look at the period, and included such developments as the 1975 discovery of the Hamilton and Scourge on the bottom of Lake Ontario, and the 1987 discovery of the skeletons of casualties at Snake Hill. Now, a decade later, Wesley B. Turner has updated The War of 1812 to include the volumes of new research that have come to light in recent years. All this new material has been incorporated into this interesting and informative overview of a crucial period in Canada’s history.
The War of 1812, A Short History
by Donald R. HickeyThis abridged edition of Donald R. Hickey's comprehensive and authoritative The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict has been thoroughly revised for the 200th anniversary of the historic conflict. A myth-shattering study that will inform and entertain students and general readers alike, The War of 1812: A Short History explores the military, diplomatic, and domestic history of our second war with Great Britain, bringing the study up to date with recent scholarship on all aspects of the war, from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada. With new information on military operations, logistics, and the use and capabilities of weaponry, The War of 1812: A Short History explains how the war promoted American nationalism, reinforced the notion of manifest destiny, stimulated peacetime defense spending, and enhanced America's reputation abroad. Hickey also concludes that the war sparked bloody conflicts between pro-war Republican and anti-war Federalist neighbors, dealt a crippling blow to the independence and treaty rights of American Indians, and solidified the United States' antipathy toward the British. Ideal for students and history buffs, this special edition includes selected illustrations, maps, a chronology of major events during the war, and a list of suggested further reading.
The War of 1812, Conflict and Deception: The British Attempt to Seize New Orleans and Nullify the Louisiana Purchase
by Ronald J. DrezPerhaps no conflict in American history is more important yet more overlooked and misunderstood than the War of 1812. Begun by President James Madison after decades of humiliating British trade interference and impressment of American sailors, the war in many ways was the second battle for United States independence.At the climax of the war -- inspired by the defeat of Napoleon in early 1814 and the perceived illegality of the Louisiana Purchase -- the British devised a plan to launch a three-pronged attack against the northern, eastern, and southern U.S. borders. Concealing preparations for this strike by engaging in negotiations in Ghent, Britain meanwhile secretly issued orders to seize New Orleans and wrest control of the Mississippi and the lands west of the river. They further instructed British commander General Edward Pakenham not to cease his attack if he heard rumors of a peace treaty. Great Britain even covertly installed government officials within military units with the intention of immediately taking over administrative control once the territory was conquered.According to author Ronald J. Drez, the British strategy and the successful defense of New Orleans through the leadership of General Andrew Jackson affirm the serious implications of this climatic -battle. Far from being simply an unnecessary epilogue to the War of 1812, the Battle of New Orleans firmly secured for the United States the territory acquired through the Louisiana Purchase.Through the use of primary sources, Drez provides a deeper understanding of Britain's objectives, and The War of 1812, Conflict and Deception offers a compelling account of this pivotal moment in American history.
The War of American Independence, 1763-1783: Falling Dominoes (Warfare and History)
by Stanley D. Carpenter Kevin J. Delamer James R. McIntyre Andrew T. ZwillingThe War of American Independence, 1763–1783: Falling Dominoes addresses the military, maritime and naval, economic, key personalities, key societal groups, political, imperial rivalry, and diplomatic dynamics and events from the post-Seven Years’ War era in Great Britain’s North American colonies through the end of the War of American Independence. Beginning in 1763 and moving through the war chronologically, the authors argue that British political and strategic leaders failed to develop an effective strategy to quell the discontent and subsequent revolt in the North American colonies and thus failed to restore allegiance to the Crown. This book describes and analyzes events and the outcomes of central players’ decisions—the British North American colonies, Great Britain, France, Spain, and the Dutch Republic—and the resultant actions. It examines events through the thematic lens of strategy, political and military leadership, public attitudes, economics, international rivalries and relations, and the role of traditionally less-considered groups: women, slaves, and Native American peoples. This book is an enlightening and essential read for all history students, from high school through to those on postgraduate courses, as well as those with an interest in the American Revolution.
The War of Atonement: The Inside Story of the Yom Kippur War
by Chaim HerzogAn authoritative account of the Israeli army’s performance in the bitter Yom Kippur War of 1973.In The War of Atonement, the origins of the Yom Kippur War amid the turbulent history of competing powers in the Middle East are fully explored, as is the build-up of Arab forces that almost inexplicably caught Israel by surprise. The author then provides a gripping narrative of the conflict itself, punctuated by firsthand accounts and interviews with combatants. The War of Atonement is full of drama and tales of inspirational bravery, as Israel defied the odds to defeat the two-pronged invasion. An analysis of the political implications of the conflict bring this epic tale to a close.For this edition Chaim Herzog’s son, Brigadier General Michael Herzog, has written an introduction which places the book in the context of his father’s achievements and gives a revealing insight into the man himself. This is the most comprehensive work on a conflict that has had major implications for our own troubled times.“Certainly the best account of the war from the Israeli standpoint that has yet appeared or is likely to appear for some years to come.” —The New York Times Book Review“A scrupulously researched account . . . the most authoritative yet to appear.” —Financial Times“Herzog’s volume is still very much a required classic on the subject. Clearly and concisely written, there is much to learn from this book.” —Air and Space Magazine“One of the best accounts of the Yom Kippur War . . . In addition to providing a detailed account of each of the major battles as well as useful general information on the political leaders and generals of both sides, the author recounts in detail the heroism of individual Israeli Army units that were greatly outnumbered.” —Jewish Book World
The War of Atonement: The Inside Story of the Yom Kippur War (Greenhill Military Paperback Ser.)
by Chaim Herzog Brigadier General Michael HerzogThis is the authoritative account of the Israeli army’s performance in the bitter Yom Kippur War of 1973. The origins of the war amid the turbulent history of competing powers in the Middle East are fully explored, as is the build-up of Arab forces that almost inexplicably caught Israel by surprise. The author then provides a gripping narrative of the conflict itself, punctuated by firsthand accounts and interviews with combatants. The War of Atonement is full of drama and tales of inspirational bravery, as Israel defied the odds to defeat the two-pronged invasion. An analysis of the political implications of the conflict bring this epic tale to a close. For this edition Chaim Herzog’s son, Brigadier General Michael Herzog, has written an introduction which places the book in the context of his father’s achievements and gives a revealing insight into the man himself. This is the most comprehensive work on a conflict that has had major implications for our own troubled times.