From Shield to Storm: High-Tech Weapons, Military Strategy, and Coalition Warfare in the Persian Gulf

By the authors of A Quick and Dirty Guide to War , this in-depth yet succinct account of the causes of the Persian Gulf war and how it was fought is of great interest. In their analysis of the 42-day air campaign (``Never in the history of warfare has air power played such a determining role in wining a war'') and the four-day battle that climaxed Desert Storm in late February 1991, Dunnigan and Bay discuss the strategy, tactics and operational problems on both sides of the battlefront. They also offer informed and unequivocal judgments on the high-tech weaponry tested in the campaign: the Abrams tank, the Apache helicopter, the Bradley Fighting Vehicle ``exceeded all expectation.'' The book explores the ratio of friendly-fire casualties, the performance of female GIs in the field, the reaction of journalists to war-zone restrictions, and other issues of concern to the general reader. (Jan.)