Review by Martin Koenigsberg
Just finished my 90th(!!) Book Review of the Year!!https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6045165785In the wake of the Six Day war in 1967, the Israelis were ecstatic about both the recovery of Jerusalem and their massive new buffer zone between their borders and those of Syria, Jordan, and Egypt. Surely they would be able to trade all this conquest for a lasting peace agreement- surely their enemies were tired of constant war? The answer, of course was that the Arab states were not prepared to make any sort of agreement. Bill Norton, a USAF veteran and author on military and miltech subjects explores in this number 50 in Helion Books’ Middle East @ War series what happened next- the “War Of Attrition” that would bubble and spark as a low intensity conflict with bvery real constant casualties – all the way up to the outbreak of the October war of 1973. Far from a restful time spent recovering from the 1967 war- both sides needed to continue their Arms Race as this war was fought with border incursions, artillery duels, terrorist raids and aerial combats. The book is filled with B/w and Colour photos, graphs, tables, colour plates and maps in the typical Helion style. The Egyptians wanted Sinai back – they fought with the Israelis all along the Suez Canal border- trying to find ways to discomfit the new neighbours. The Syrians, a major regional power at the time, wanted the Golan Heights back- and disliked Israeli influence in Lebanon. They took part in aerial combats and tested the new borders. The PLO/PLA, the Palestinian armed wing- tried to continue their terror and insurgent campaigns from Lebanon and Jordan – with some Jordanian cooperation- until the 1970 “Black September ” expulsion of the militants by the Jordanian Army. Faced by all these threats- most underwritten by massive Soviet Arms and support shipments- the Israelis increasingly turned to their American Cold War Partners. Although the coming 1973 War would change the calculus yet again, we can see elements of today’s issues in this region playing out in this book. It’s a good package on a timely topic. There are some adult political themes, a little bit of graphic injury passages , and a lot of nuanced motivations , so this is a book for the Junior Reader over 14/15 years with a historical bent. For the Gamer/Modeler/Military Enthusiast this is great resource on a little remembered era of regional conflict. For the gamer, a low intensity but long time conflict produces as lot of potential scenario and campaign ideas- as the total forces in any one confrontation were limited. For the Modeler, this period is interesting – the Israelis moving from French to US technology- the Arab states moving closer to the Warsaw Pact for their weapons. Lots of new weapons were introduced the the region- many of them were immediately put to use For the Military Enthusiast this period is actually very informative for the later wars-and this book does a good job with its explanations. I think many reader both MilHist fans and the more general reader will find this a good read.#WhatAreYouReading #BookReviews #20thCenturyHistory #MilitaryHistory #IsraeliHistory #EgyptianHistory #SyrianHistory #JordanianHistory #LebaneseHistory #PalestinianHistory #ColdWarHistory #TheWarOfAttrition #ArabIsraeliWars #WargameResearch #TheArabIsraeliWarOfAttrition1967to1973 #Volume1AftermathOfTheSixDayWarRenewedCombatWestBankInsurgencyAndAirForces #BillNorton #MiddleEastAtWarSeries50 #HelionAndCompany #Mirages #F4Phantom #MiG21s #AML90 #HawkerHunter #FateOfANation #BattlegroupNorthag #TeamYankeeOilWar #ColdWarWargames
