On the Banks of the Suez: An Israeli General's Personal Account of the Yom Kippur War

Plot

I have read many books about the 1973 Yom Kippur War (Sometimes called the October War, the War for atonement, the Tishreen War, the Ramadan war, and even a few other names), but Avraham (Bren) Adan's "On the Banks of the Suez" is without a doubt the most professionally written and open-minded account of the fighting on the Egyptian front of the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Several outstanding books exist for the fighting on the Golan at the Syrian front and I highly recommend the books by Avigdor Kahalani and Raful Eitan. For a general overview of the war including both fronts, I recommend Chaim Herzog's "The War for Atonement." However, "On the Banks of the Suez" has no equal for explaining the action on the Egyptian front.

Some of the many reasons that make this a great book are:

1. PROFESSIONAL MILITARY WRITING: A military professional wrote this book for other military professionals. Many authors have a tendency to remove military language and viewpoints to simplify the text for popular review. Bren Adan resisted doing that although he did write the book in as lucid and clear a method as is possible without "dumbing down" the work.

2. IMPARTIAL CRITICISM: The book, while written by an Israeli general, is impartial. He doesn't hesitate to critique the fighting by either the Egyptians or the Israelis. In fact, he criticizes the Israeli actions much more so than those of the Egyptians combatants. There, of course, are some of his personal opinions and some discussions of the political factors, but Adan avoids overly moralizing history and instead presents it for the reader's review.

3. LITTLE TO NO INTELLIGENCE "BLUR": One of the shortcomings of many books written about the 1973 Yom Kippur war in the first five to ten years after the war is the editing that IDF spokespeople did to the information released about the war. For security's sake, they often change unit names and other critical date making it difficult to track whom was where and when. Adan, being intimately aware of such restrictions, was able to write this book without having his writing made confusing.

4. EXCITING ACCOUNTS OF THE ACTION: Adan holds no punches describing the action and successes of the fighters on both sides. I particularly enjoyed his accounts of the tough fighting by Egyptians commandos in the beginning of the war. The Israeli tankers, on the other hand, were tenacious dedicated fighters as well.

5. INSIGHTFUL ANALYSIS OF NONCOMBAT FACTORS: Adan describes very well what's is going on in the background of the war: the superpower struggle, ineffective UN mediation, political factors in both the Egyptian and Israeli government, as well as the effect of the civilians behind the lines.

I highly recommend this incredibly well written book to anyone interested in the 1973 Yom Kippur War. I particularly recommend it to military professionals.