The Eve of Destruction: The Untold Story of the Yom Kippur War

by Howard Blum

Book Overview

On October 6, 1973--Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar--the Arab world launched a bold and ingeniously conceived surprise attack against Israel. After three days of intense, bloody combat, an unprepared Israel was fighting for survival, while the Arabs, with massive forces closing in on the Jewish heartland, were poised to redeem the honor lost in three previous wars.

Based on declassified Israeli government documents and...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060013990
• ISBN13: 9780060013998
• Release Date: September 2003
• Publisher: Harper
• Length: 350 Pages
• Weight: 1.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

An engaging story

Historians could have almost predicted with certainty that the humiliation of Egypt and Syria in the Six Days War in 1967 would have consequences. But the manner in which it happened was the surprise. In The Eve of Destruction, Howard Blum opens masterfully with the strategy that the Arabs chose: a top-ranking Egyptian spy who completely fool the Mossad and the Israeli Cabinet into thinking another war would never come. It did, six years later.Blum masterfully narrates the events leading up to war: the unpreparedness of Israel's armed forces; the "Concept"; the realistic Egyptian General's war plan; and the gambit taken by Sadat and Asad to restore Arab honor to the Middle East.Told through some of the key players in the war, we see heroic tank battles taking place in and around the desolate Golan Heights, vastly undersized Israeli armor desperately trying to halt overwhelming Syrian forces. We watch as the Egyptians carry out the brilliantly conceived Suez Canal crossing to hold its east bank and the tactical blunders and disorder of the Israeli generals before they realize that directly assaulting Egyptian positions in the Sinai is suicide. On the southern front, the war ends largely in stalemate thanks to a counter-crossing through the Chinese Farm, but it is a close-run thing. To the north, ferocious defensive actions allow Israeli armor to block the Syrian advance and even turn it around.Blum's unique storytelling ability grabs the reader and places him or her right on the battlefield-one can almost smell the cordite. Yet, it is blended with behind-the-scenes in-depth insight and commentary, enabling one to understand why not only the Yom Kippur War was inevitable, but why, this time, there would be no easy victories-for either side. For me, the most fascinating aspect of the book lies in the manner in which Blum describes the participants: their hopes, veuve and zest, fears, and schemes, all placed in the context of Middle East culture that is still largely an anathema to western society.

Riveting Exposition of Progress of Yom Kippur War!

This absorbing new book deftly employs the prosaic tools of journalism to approach the subject of the 1973 Yom Kippur war. Given the fact the war was one almost lost by the Israelis before they narrowly turned the tide, the riveting story-telling techniques used by author Howard Blum adds to the quality and drama of the unfolding events that fateful October. According to the author, even more than the six-day war in 1967 in which the Israelis made a preemptive strike against the forces arrayed around them to rewrite the maps and borders of the Middle East, this was a fateful struggle that created the perspective and defensive tactics that the Israelis have used to combat their enemies in the decades since. Blum uses a variety of materials and documents to inform his history of the conflict; availing himself of newly released documents, a growing collection of memoirs and personal accounts, and by painstakingly squaring off with some provocative and quite insightful questions for the more than 200 interviewees he spent hundreds of hours with; the answers he derives leads him in unsuspected directions, and offers the reader an opportunity to understand the conflict as an unqualified disaster for everyone involved, Israeli and Arab alike. Furthermore, by inquiring as to how it was that Israel allowed itself to be so surprised and so unprepared for the onslaught of the invading Arab forces, and how it was the attack that was driving so forcefully into the heart of the country was finally slowed and turned around. One fascinating and quite controversial aspect to the book is its reputed discovery of an Egyptian double agent who had successfully won the trust of the Israeli intelligence community and then subsequently gulled the top-level Israeli military leaders into believing that no attack was possible unless and until the several Arab states coalesced into a unified coalition, even while another Egyptian high in his country's planning prepared a scenario designed to play to the Israeli's strengths and use them against them to draw them out into dangerous territory and then counterattack again and again, bleeding the Israeli forces into defeat. To the extent it is true, it worked quite well, with the feckless Israeli Defense Forces flailing about ineffectually, losing large numbers of men, planes, and tanks in the first fateful 72 hours. So bad was the loss of men and equipment that the Israelis asked for and were given dozens of U.S F-4s, which were flown to Israel so urgently that many of them still carried USAF markings and insignia. One point to ponder is the degree to which this supreme fighting force was caught unaware, given the fact of just how close Israel came to total defeat in the autumn war. Blum provides the reader with a stirring and unforgettable description of the war and its progress, and in doing so provides the reader with a much more complete picture of Israel's precarious position, an historical fact that should serve to remind

Excellent History On The Yom Kippur War!

This book by Howard Blum gives you an excellent insight on the Yom Kippur War.Blum reports that Israel was totally misled by a secret source named the In-Law.The In-Law misled the Israelisinto being totally unprepared for the invasion by the armies of Egypt and Syria.Blum also details how the Israeli leadershipignored several warning signs that they were about to be thefocus of a large scale invasion.This book also details how close Egypt and Syria came to defeating Israel.Blum also tells howcritical blunders by the invading forces cost them the war and allowed Israel victory.This book proved to be an excellent coverage of the Yom Kippur War.I had previously read the "Brigade" and "Wanted,The Search For Nazis in America".These were outstanding books as well. Read this book. It is very good.

History Told in an Anecdotal Style

On October 6, 1973 at 2:00 in the afternoon, the armies of Egypt and Syria went to war. Along the Suez Canal, 100,000 Egyptian men and 1,550 tanks faced 436 Israeli troops and three tanks. In the Golan Heights, 45,000 Syrian troops and 540 tanks attacked an Israeli force of 175 men and 177 tanks. An Israeli army and air force, which was viewed by the world as invincible based upon its military success of June 1967, was clearly staggered by the surprise attack that coincided with the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur. Howard Blum's THE EVE OF DESTRUCTION: The Untold Story of the Yom Kippur War is history in an anecdotal style. Blum tells the story of the war through the broad canvass of action by the nations involved, and the smaller snapshot of the individual participants in the conflict.Blum spends a great deal of his account attempting to answer a familiar and significant question. How did the Arab nations achieve such a surprise and why was Israel so unprepared for the war? Nearly half of the book is spent providing the answer, an answer that has eerie similarities to contemporary events in the Middle East. Israel had substantial information that war was impending. Prime Minister Golda Meir even had a secret meeting with Jordan's King Hussein wherein he advised Meir of Egypt and Syria's plans. Israeli intelligence chose to ignore the information received because it failed to comport with their strategy and analysis. In addition, the Israelis were duped by an elaborate double agent plot by the Egyptians that fed crucial false information immediately prior to the commencement of hostilities.The initial Arab assault succeeded in administering a near knockout blow to the Israelis. For 72 hours the Israelis staggered and tenaciously sought to hold off the advancing armies from both the north and south. So bleak was the situation that Defense Minister Moshe Dayan concluded that the "Third Temple" was about to fall. Prime Minister Meir authorized the use of Israel's nuclear arsenal should the nation be overrun. But just as the Israelis had miscalculated, so had Egyptian President Sadat, and that error changed the course of the battle.Sadat's strategy was for a limited retaking of territory across the Suez Canal. He assumed that the Israelis would counter-attack and his army had been thoroughly prepared in defensive tactics. The goal was to wear down the Israeli Army and obtain a superior bargaining position for peace negotiations. But the Israelis elected a different strategy. They eliminated the Syrian threat and then turned their attention to the Egyptian front. Through a series of maneuvers, they outflanked the Egyptians and crossed the Suez Canal. Ultimately, the Americans and Soviets prevailed upon the parties to cease the hostilities, but Israel had come perilously close to cataclysmic defeat.THE EVE OF DESTRUCTION focuses on many of the participants in the Yom Kippur War. Blum has interviewed hundreds of the participants and presents the story of

A Great New Take on the Yom Kippur War

This is simply a wonderful book, very readable and enlightening on the subject of the War of Atonement. It being the 30 year anniverary of the war it is a prescient work of important proportions. Having just succeeded in his wonderful book 'the Brigade' Mr. Blum now tackles this great subject. The Yom Kippur war was a truly traumatic event for Israel. A war that almost launched the 'Sampson option' and one that brought the great powers to the brink of world war. it witnessed a great airlift ot israel from america and setbeacks, the worst in history, for the ISraelis in the first 72 hours. Stunning defeats of ISraels Tanks in the Sinai and her air force forced a rethinking of ISraeli military abilities. Blum bring this epic struggle to light in a humaness not seen in most military/political books. A wonderful account!!! Very human, very much accesible which brings one right to the sinai to face the Egyptian onslaught, then whicks you up to Mount Harmon in the Golan and then back to the stench of the smoke filled Pit where great minds like Mr. Dayan plotted the fate of the Jewish state, watching as counterattack after counterattack failed to dislodge to Egyptians. We learn more insight into the 'Sampson Option' when Golda contemplated launching the weapans that would have ended a million lives in Egypt and Syria, in order to save the remnant of Jewry from genocide at the hands of viscious arabs. A great compendium that showcases two future Prime miniters, 'Arik' Sharon and Netanyaho. A must have for any collection on the arab-israeli conflict. A neccesary work. Far superior to 'Two O' Clock War' which is weaker. Also look into 'The Brigade' also by Blum and a stunning account of the Jewish Brigade in WWII.