The War of Atonement

by Chaim Herzog

Book Overview

This 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... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0860075648
• ISBN13: 9780860075646
• Release Date: June 1977
• Publisher: Futura Publications
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.

Customer Reviews

The Unpleasantness of War

Very good book on the strategy of the war as told from the Israeli point of view. I recommend it to anyone interested in the events that took place during the Yom Kippur War.

Authoritative Work on the Yom Kipur War

The 1973 Yom Kippur War left in it's wake shattered illusions , an escalation in the energy crisis and a reshaped poltiical situation in the Middle East. This work , originally written two years after the Yom Kippur War , by one of Israel's foremost millitary analysts and later President of Israel, traces the roots of the war to the Six Day War , and gives a detailed analysis of the war on two fronts , the Northern Front , in the Golan against the Syrian attackers (aided by auxiliaries from Iraq, Jordan , Morocco , Saudi Arabia . Kuwait and Cuba among others) and the Southern Front , in the Sinai , against the Egyptian invaders. The author , in tracing the conflict from the 1967 Six Day War , illustrates how the Soviet Union instigated the war , arming the Arabs , falsely advising the Syrians about the concentrations of Israeli troops on their borders , playing down the escalation in the United Nations and heavily arming Syria , Egypt and Iraq , egging them on to a war of anihilation against Israel. Herzog details the backdrop to the war with the reality that Israel was faced with: "As Arab hysteria rose and the Arab media promised the Israeli population - men , women and children - destruction and anihilation in the most brutal manner , the horrors of the Nazi holocaust rose to the fore in Jewish consciousness. The Jewish people knew that these where not mere words , recalling how many nations nurtured on the tenets of Christianity had either participated in the previous bloody massacres or had looked on. And indeed the world looked on , petrified , incapable of taking action". Herzog details how Israel's extraordinary victory in the Six Day War lulled that nation into a false sense of security. The War of Attrition (1969-1970) by Egypt against Israel. The very magnitude of the Arab defeat in the Six Day War , with it's damaging implications for Arab pride , self-respect and honour set the stage for the next war , points out the author , detaling Nasser's resolve that "what was taken by force must be returned by force". The Soviet Union rebuilt the armed might of Egypt , Syria and Iraq , with the latest weapons and equipment , continually urging the Arabs into another war with Israel. The author details the political machinations of the Soviet Union and Arab powers leading to the war , and reveals the shocking fact that Israel knew several days before the war that a massive Arab attack was imminent on Yom Kippur but miscalculated the hour , believing it would be four hours later then when it actually took place. The author details how "the inherent strength and resilience of the people of Israel was revealed in the stark , grim and tragic days at the outset of the war , when fighting back against overwhelming odds , they overcame the initial setbacks and achieved millitary success." He sizes up in his opinion the strengths and weaknesses of Israel's foremost Generals in the conflict such as Moshe Dayan , David Elazar , Shmuel Gonen , Ari

Good overview of this war

I read this book here in Brazil.I'm an agronomist, single 35 years old.I like to read books. The Yom Kippur war in 1973 is, the subject of this book.This book is good.Many chapters, but this book isn't too long or boring.The best chapter talks about air and sea war.The failures of this book are small.If you want to read about Yom Kippur war, this is a good choice.

A Detailed But Biased Picture

The Yom Kippur War is the greatest war fought by the Israeli Army. The same brigade that was badly mauled in the initial onslaught, was also the brigade that cleared the Chinese Farm, in preparation for Arik Sharon's counterattack. However, up to this day, Herzog is still hiding the mistakes made by his fellow generals, i.e. Bar-Lev, Gonen, Hofi. Herzog, claimed that Gonen, was just unlucky in being GOC Southern Command, when war broke out. If he had been a division commander, he would hv emerged victorious, like Arik Sharon. Question is: isn't that what leadership is all about? Exercising good judgements as a leader in times of disorientation? In this, Bar-lev & Gonen, has failed miserable. The failure to evacuate the Bar-lev strongholds at the onset of the war, has costed hundreds of Israeli lives, trying to rescue the survivors. Instead of consolidating its forces, Gonen sent Ammon, Dan, Natke brigades in piece-meals attacks, even though the size of the Sinai is an excellent buffer, wiping out more than half of Israeli frontline forces before the reserves arrive. The Bar-lev Line has been a disaster and only Arik Sharon, Israel Tal & Avraham Tamir, managed to forsee the damage that it will bring, in the event of a war. Herzog called the failed attack on the 8th Oct, as An Opportunity Lost. I would rather termed it a major disaster. Only Arik understood, that the main objective, has to be to cross the Canal, and undermine the Egytians, without the costly battle of taking on the Egytians on the east bank, head on. On the Northern front, i can't see any reason why Hofi should be given credit for the fine performance. When the whole Golan was swarmed by Syrians, it was only Raful Eitan, who is there on the Golan, calmly controlling the battle, while the rest are in their war-room. The war was won, when the Israelis maanged to hold off the attack, while the reservists were streaming in. IDF can only improve if it learns from its mistakes.

Brilliant military classic back in print!

This tightly written work is gripping reading!!! FIRST, it gives a comprehensive political background from the 1967 Six Day War through the coordinated Egyptian-Syrian attack commencing at 2 p.m., October 6, 1973. [I opened an Excel spreadsheet and created an 86-entry "time line" from 1967 through Oct 6, 1973; other readers may find it useful to do likewise. I wish the author had included this tool...).] SECOND: The 9 maps in this book are EXCELLENT. Almost every geographical locaction mentioned in the text appears on the maps. The theater maps identify major geographical and military unit locations without becoming cluttered; the maps clarify and complement the text. THIRD: The writing is terse, detailed, and riviting with lots of fascinating detail. (The first 24 hours were hair-raising! ...And the story of the Israeli breakthrough north of Great Bitter Lake, followed up with encirclement of the 3rd Egyptian Army,is white-knuckle reading!) It came as a sh! ock to me to discover that the Israelis were not totally taken by surprise by the attack. In the last two days before hostilities broke out, it was obvious a war was imminent -- but the Israelis projected a 6 p.m. start. The onslaught began four hours earlier (a compromise between the Egyptians who wanted a p.m. offensive so the sun wouldn't be in their eyes, and the Syrians, who wanted an a.m. attack for the same reason!) FOURTH: This war was in fact two wars, very dissimilar from each other: the Golan Heights war; and the Suez Canal war. Each is fully covered, in exquisite detail, unit by unit, hour by hour. FIFTH: It would have been useful if the author had included tables of organization, and orders of battle for the three major armies involved, but the work is still highly readable without them. SIXTH: Chapter 18, Lessons and Implications, is the capstone of this work. An example of the style (p. 274) : "At the higher level the Egyptian strategy was excellent, co! mbining as it did strategic offense with tactically defensi! ve operations, for as soon as they were across the Canal they deployed in narrow bridgeheads and waited for the Israeli forces to attack. The wide crossing of the Canal dissipated the force of the Israel Air Force and the very nature of the attack ... guaranteed them a number of footholds.... [T]here was no room for the Israeli forces to exercise their superiority in the war of maneuver." SUMMARY: Time spent reading this work is well spent. It is a lovingly crafted work of military history. It is amazing that it was first published only two years after the Yom Kippur War took place! Though written by an Israeli, it gives credit to the high caliber of the Egyptian and Syrian efforts; one wonders what they could have acheived if they hadn't become married to Soviet military doctrines and organization.....