Review by Choice Review
A good primer of the immediate events that led up to the Gulf crisis and war of 1990-91 by two British journalists. Both are correspondents for the British newspapers, Daily Telegraph and Independent, and have written on events in the Middle East for the last 15 years. But the book remains a journalistic account that offers little that is new. The British perspective differs little from Judith Miller and Laurie Mylroie's Saddam Hussein and the Crisis in the Gulf (1990). In addition, Miller and Mylroie's book provides more historical background, and more political analysis. Bulloch and Morris's explanations as to why Syria, Egypt, and Turkey joined the coalition so readily lack depth. They underestimate the role of Israel in the war and the reasons they give for Western actions, especially those of the US and the UK, are vapid. There is no mention of the internal challenges and crises which prompted US action or the desire on the part of the West to have a much stronger military presence in the Gulf in order to contain the Islamic revolution in Iran and the increased weddedness between Islam and nationalism in the Central Asian republics of the Soviet Union. The book is, however, clearly written and can be easily understood even by the reader unfamiliar with Middle East history. -R. W. Olson, University of Kentucky
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
The crisis in the Persian Gulf--that is, the conflict sparked by Iraq's invasion of Kuwait--had yet to play itself out when this book was being written. And because the book came out before the Persian Gulf War was fought, and won, by an American-led U.N. military coalition, it already has a dated feel to it. Yet it does provide an informative look at the root causes of the late unpleasantness in the Gulf region; in particular, the authors have written a concise but illuminating account of Saddam Hussein's violent rise to power, first within the Ba'athist party and later within the tortured framework of Middle Eastern affairs. Bulloch and Morris are journalists with considerable expertise in that part of the world, and it shows. One wishes, however, that they would have waited until the wheel of history had taken at least one more turn. Had they done so, they would have written a more complete, hence better, book. ~--Steve Weingartner
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
Review by Booklist Review
