Rating: 
Summary: The Yom Kippur War
Review: Abraham Rabinovich's book on the Yom Kippur War provides a comprehensive, high level and detailed level view of the political and military aspects of the war. Due to the passage of years, it provides details not seen in previous treatments of the war. An excellent book.
Rating:
Summary: Great book, should have been more comprehensive
Review: Abraham Rabinovich's The Yom Kippur War is a great book and recounts the story of the 1973 Arab-Israeli war in detail. The reader should take into account, however, that the book is written from the Israeli perspective only. This is not to undermine the objectivity of the writer but only to say that, since Rabinovich is a reporter, he should have given more space for the Egyptian and Syrian sides of the story.
Even though the author has apparently read books by Arab authors on the subject, as he tells the stories, Israeli soldiers seem to have names, homes, families and businesses while Arab troops are mostly nameless, homeless and a reader can only imagine them as evil soldiers that one usually encounter in a Play Station game arcade.
Granted Arab regimes do not give access to any kind of valuable material on the subject, but certainly some more effort, or perhaps an Arab co-author interviewing some of the Arab war survivers, would have produced a more comprehensive book that covers both sides of the story.
Rating: 
Summary: The Definitive Analysis of The 1973 Conflict
Review: Abraham Rabinovich's The Yom Kippur War is the counterpart to Michael B. Oren's Six Days of War as the definitive books covering those two Middle East conflicts. Anybody wanting to cover the period between 1967-1973 and the two conflicts which bookmark that timeline will not need any other sources than the works by Rabinovich and Oren.
We continue to live with the consequences of the 1967 War because it reshaped the map of the Middle East such that it persists today; Israel is in control of the West Bank (Judea/Samaria), the Golan Heights, and the Gaza Strip. The 1967 War showed Arab states that Israel was not just some agrarian entity whose demise was imminent. The 1973 War showed that military force was not an option in restoring whatever balance the Arab states demanded (hence Sadat's peace overtures leading to the 1979 Peace Treaty with Israel). Perhaps because the 1973 Yom Kippur War did not re-shape the Middle East map and did not involve as decisive a decision as the 1967 conflict, it has tended to be overlooked versus the earlier war. But the 1973 War in certain aspects was more important than the Six Days War in that it allowed the first semblance of peace making in the region. That model -- land for peace -- continues to be the operative mode even today and the major thrust of U.S. foreign policy in the region.
Like Oren, Rabinovich covers all of the facets of the war: the Israeli and American and Arab political scenes; the military tactics employed; the different battlegrounds (Sinai and Golan Heights); the personalities (Kissinger, Sadat, Meir, Dayan, Elazar, Sharon, Nixon); the international dimensions (the U.N., the Arab bloc, the Soviet Union). Rabinovich does an excellent job in presenting facts as facts and opinions as opinions. Regardless of one's opinion on the politics of the Middle East, Rabinovich's book -- just like Oren's -- can be utilized by anybody regardless of their political persuasions on the Israeli-Arab conflict.
The book goes into enough depth on many of the secondary characters from both the Israeli (Kalahani, Eitan, Ben-Gal, Elazar, Adan, Gonen, Zeira) and Egyptian side (Suleiman, Shazly, Ismail). Don't worry if you don't recognize those names -- by the end of the book, you will know them intimately. The international shuttle diplomacy of Henry Kissinger is also covered very well, as is the effects of the Watergate crisis on the Nixon presidency as it impacts both the president and his staff in little-known crisis decision-making instances. The book does not focus as much on outside state actors -- the Soviets and other Arab states -- as much as Oren's book does, but it does not suffer for this lacking. Like Oren, Rabinovich has relied on extensive oral interviews with many of the key players -- there is no substitute for asking the major participants directly what they were thinking and doing, rather than relying on second-hand accounts via newspapers, books, so-called expert analyses, etc.
The author goes into enough detail that you can see the panic that hit many of the Israeli military and political upper echelon during the first 72 hours -- Dayan's famous Third Temple cry -- but it is accurately put into context behind the stabilizing of the more precarious Northern front against Syria (whose proximity to Israel proper was the main problem, not the size or thrust of her armies). On the Southern command, the fact remains that Israel had virtually the entire Sinai to fall back on, if Egypt intended to go on the offensive (which they would not do until the close of the conflict when Israel had the upper hand strategically). Rabinovich outlines all the key military decision makers and puts their decision-making into the relevant tactical, strategic, and political dynamics as they occurred in real time. Instead of simply second-guessing commanders 30 years after the fact -- how could he make THAT decision? -- we learn that military tactics involves making split-second decisions, often on the basis of partial information and intelligence, often tempered by political or geopolitical necessities. It's not unlike watching a baseball hitter swing though a straight and fast 95 mile-per-hour fastball on TV and saying how could he miss that -- it was right over the plate? -- and then trying to actually go into a batting cage and hit a pitch 10-15 MPH slower. Not too easy! Similarly, it's alot easier to engage in Monday Morning Quarterbacking when military decisions can be criticized with 30 years of hindsight.
The flaws in the Israeli military's tactics -- from the reliance on the thinly-manned Bar-Lev forts, to the changing air tactical strategies -- is thoroughly dissected. At the same time, the actions of individuals who acted on the fly and adapted to the changing military situation (like Ariel Sharon) are pointed out. It becomes evident in reading a thorough analysis of such a short conflict -- longer books on wars usually focus on multi-year campaigns, not shorter battles -- that the winner in wars are not at all those who plan ahead properly, guess correctly, or have 100% foresight. No, the winner is usually the side that makes the least mistakes. In other words, any review of the winning side in a conflict -- whether the Yom Kippur War, World War II, or the Iraq War -- will find lots of military mistakes by both commanders and politicians. But Rabinovitch shows that these are not correctible mistakes by flawed military commanders, but rather the necessary price one learns to live with when complex decisions are made by fallible human beings. In baseball, you're considered a good hitter if you can get a hit 30% of the time -- which means you fail 70% of the time. Ted Williams, the greatest hitter of our generation, made out almost 60% of the time in his stellar 1941 season when he batted .406. Similarly, in war, if you can avoid fatal or catastrophic errors, you can often rely on your inherent numerical or quantitative or strategic advantages to hold long enough for your enemy to make the fatal mistakes that doom his side. This is what Israel saw happen once it held off the (near-fatal) errors of intelligence and defensive planning (the Bar-Lev Line) during the first 72-96 hours of the war.
The Yom Kippur War is so exhaustingly detailed on all of the major factors impacting the conflict that a book of this scope could only be written on the 30th anniversary of the War. Many documents have only recently been declassified, the author has painstakingly interviewed many of the major players, and time has allowed many of the decisions to be seen in their proper light. Ariel Sharon comes out particularly well, as opposed to the revisionist Israeli leftist claims that he was a rogue cowboy (where have we heard THAT before?).
This book is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for anyone who wants to study the Yom Kippur War in depth or just read one book on the subject. Other books have covered other subjects or elements of the war more exhaustively (Walter Boyne's The Two O'Clock War covering the airlift comes to mind) but you will not find a more comprehensive account of the 1973 conflict than Rabinovich's book. An outstanding historical analysis that is the current de facto standard bearer in it's field -- and probably will remain so for many years to come.
Rating:
Summary: Great!
Review: Even if you're not a military history buff, this is a great book. Yes, there is lots of info and detail on the military aspects of the conflict - the great armor battles, the air war, tactics and strategies. But the author also provides alot of background material on the personalities involved - who actually managed the war behind the scenes as well as fought it on the front lines, the strong and weak on both sides, the heroism of the common soldier. I found the information about Henry Kissinger, and his penchant for working around Nixon, to be very interesting.
All in all, a compelling book about a war that continues to shape the Mid-East even today.
Rating:
Summary: Great!
Review: Even if you're not a military history buff, this is a great book. Yes, there is lots of info and detail on the military aspects of the conflict - the great armor battles, the air war, tactics and strategies. But the author also provides alot of background material on the personalities involved - who actually managed the war behind the scenes as well as fought it on the front lines, the strong and weak on both sides, the heroism of the common soldier. I found the information about Henry Kissinger, and his penchant for working around Nixon, to be very interesting.
All in all, a compelling book about a war that continues to shape the Mid-East even today.
Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Work
Review: I'll be brief, it's excellent. He starts us off with an understanding of the Israeli self-assuredness that led to the successful Arab deception prior to the war. When the shooting starts, the author gives us a meticulous account on the happenings of both fronts which is based on countless personal interviews. The tank combat on the Golan Heights is the most thrilling I have ever read on armor battles. And I have read plenty of Kursk & Bulge. If this book were a dessert, I would call it a chocolate souffle.
Rating:
Summary: A model of a war history book
Review: I'll be brief, it's excellent. He starts us off with an understanding of the Israeli self-assuredness that led to the successful Arab deception prior to the war. When the shooting starts, the author gives us a meticulous account on the happenings of both fronts which is based on countless personal interviews. The tank combat on the Golan Heights is the most thrilling I have ever read on armor battles. And I have read plenty of Kursk & Bulge. If this book were a dessert, I would call it a chocolate souffle.
Rating:
Summary: I could not put it down
Review: I've read and watched many books and documentaries on Israel's history and Wars. Abraham Rabinovich has done an amazing job with this book. He examines the war from every angle and his depiction of the battle is so colorful and real that its as though you are right there on the battlefield. I also liked the way Rabinovich explained the psyche of each of the generals, Saddat, Meir, Kissinger, and all the other players in the conflict. The only thing I craved more detail on was the activation of Israel's nuclear arsenal. I have read about this in other texts and some relate this to the possible outcome of the war. Rabinovich doesn't get into this at all. This should be a required reading for every Israeli student and for anyone interested in Middle East history. Great job Mr. Rabinovich!! A+++
Rating:
Summary: I could not put it down
Review: I've read and watched many books and documentaries on Israel's history and Wars. Abraham Rabinovich has done an amazing job with this book. He examines the war from every angle and his depiction of the battle is so colorful and real that its as though you are right there on the battlefield. I also liked the way Rabinovich explained the psyche of each of the generals, Saddat, Meir, Kissinger, and all the other players in the conflict. The only thing I craved more detail on was the activation of Israel's nuclear arsenal. I have read about this in other texts and some relate this to the possible outcome of the war. Rabinovich doesn't get into this at all. This should be a required reading for every Israeli student and for anyone interested in Middle East history. Great job Mr. Rabinovich!! A+++
Rating:
Summary: Definitive account of the Yom Kippur War
Review: In reading military history, one will often find that all human perspective is drowned in tactics and weapons systems or, conversely, that human elements have distracted the author and overwhelmed the war's place in history. This can be especially true in regard to the wars of Israel because there is such an intense emotion surrounding them. Happily, Abraham Rabinovich has avoided both of these problems with his masterful "The Yom Kippur War". Moreover, he succeeds admirably in placing the war with in the broader context of the region and the times.What makes "The Yom Kippur War" so successful is that Rabinovich captures and dissects all of the elements necessary to look at the war not just as a series of battles, but as a subject worthy of historical study. These might be described as the prologue, the war itself (battles, casualties, personalities, etc.), battlefield innovation (tactics and weapons), geopolitics and historical perspective. Alone, each area is well researched and written, combined they form one of the most effective and impressive military histories one is likely to encounter. By defining the Yom Kippur War as a product of numerous clashes dating back to Israel's founding, Rabinovich transcends a simple narrative of events and forces the reader to consider the root causes of the conflict, and how those causes dictated its course. One simple example is how Israel's stunning victory in The Six Day War lead to an institutional arrogance that meant they started the war poorly deployed and with limited ability to improvise in its early days. Moreover, Rabinovich does a nice job of capturing the Arab, and particularly the Egyptian, point of view. Unlike previous Arab military misadventures, The Yom Kippur War was based more upon the demands of realpolitik and less upon ideology than ever before. Egypt took a calculated roll of the dice, and in spite of taking a beating, over time accomplished all of their goals as a result. Tactically, The Yom Kippur War set a new standard for ferocity and violence in a relatively compact area. Never before had so much firepower been deployed so quickly and to such great effect. In particular, the massive deployment of RPG's and precision anti-tank weapons marked a genuine revolution in military affairs that rocked Israel to its very core. However, Rabinovich indicates a deft grasp of the rapid vacillations between offense and defense as he revisits the roles and interactions of infantry and tank time and again. Moreover, his purview isn't limited to tactics alone as he lays out a litany of failures in Israel's grand strategy which included such basic errors as a failure to dictate the shape of the battlefield by trading land for time, the failure to exploit greater maneuverability in flanking attacks, and the failure to concentrate armor at the critical point. All of these lapses would be glaring in most any army, but in Israel, where the tank reigned supreme, they were unforgivable. Likewise, he considers similar interactions between the fighter-bomber and the SAM at both the tactical and strategic level. However, as I said before, this isn't a dry recitation of tactics and plans. Rabinovich infused his narrative with anecdotes and primary sources that nicely capture the tremendous pressure that Israel faced, and the enormous ingenuity that allowed it to eventually turn the tide. Arab perspective is likewise strong in the early sections and again at the book's conclusion, but is noticeably lacking during the actual fighting. Given the even-handedness and professionalism with which Rabinovich writes, it is my opinion that this is probably due to a regrettable lack of source material. This conclusion is supported by the fact that it is a problem that spans most Mid-Eastern military history as largely autocratic societies have little incentive to release information about their military's consistently mediocre performance. Also, Ariel Sharon is a central figure in the Yom Kippur War, and any student of current events will gain tremendous insight into his actions today from Rabinovich's portrait of him thirty years ago. In terms of geopolitics, Rabinovich pays little head to the UN (appropriate given their total irrelevance in the war, which was in turn a function of their total ineptitude in the months before, during and after the Six Day War) but does a superb job of a detailing Kissinger's shuttle diplomacy and a surprisingly good job capturing the Kremlin's machinations. What is perhaps most shocking about these details is how completely out of the loop Nixon was as Watergate came crashing down around him. Had Kissinger not taken the initiative, it is entirely likely that a radically different, and most likely much worse scenario would have unfolded. Finally, in a brief, but excellent conclusion, Rabinovich revisits the root causes of the war and considers how they changed because of the conflict. Of course, the most obvious outcome is the détente between Israel and Egypt that developed over the following six years, but the author also eloquently captures the wrenching national introspection that Israel underwent. The Yom Kippur War was a watershed that led to a complete rethinking of not just Israel's military, but it's entire world view. To conclude, "The Yom Kippur War" has all of the characteristics of the best military history. Evenhanded and unflinching in criticism, offering astute insight and a superb portrait of men at war, Rabinovich has written what may prove to be the definitive history of the war. Jake Mohlman
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