The Heights of Courage: A Tank Leader's War on the Golan (Contributions in Military History)

click here for more details, find new or used items	Avigdor Kahalani Our price £12.34 (£13.95) New from £12.34 Used from £24.18 Pages: 198 (Paperback) Preface: Israel Tal ISBN: 0275942694 Pub: Greenwood Press Pub date: 1992-02-28 Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 283238

Reader Reviews:

Incredible first-hand accounts of fighting. (6/8 people found this helpful)

Having served in the British armed forces and studied military history for decades, I can but state that this is one of the greatest, most well written battle stories that I have personally come across to date.

This is an excellent, gripping, totally absorbing, FIRST HAND account of the fighting on the Golan Heights during the 1973 Yom Kippur, described by one who was there and experienced the fighting from beginning to end.

A brilliant book written from the vantage point of the men actually fighting on the front line. A "page-turner" which reads like a novel, but expresses the first hand reality of men in combat.

This is the captivating story of a Unit Commander, fighting against what are described as incredible odds and against what is cited as a numerically superior and better equipped enemy that carried out a surprise attack during Yom Kippur.

The first hand account by the author, Avigdor Kahalani (who is cited as having received his country's highest military decoration - the Medal Of Honour), reveals and transmits the fears, traumas and other aspects of human behaviour experienced during the often unbearable stresses of battle.

The book provides an analysis of the tactics used, which are described as being initially just to contain the enemy offensive & survive but which subsequently include the counter-attack which led to eventual victory in the battle.

This is the compelling story of an entire elite brigade, from the Commanding Officer through to the soldiers on the ground.

A breathless read which proceeds at a lightning pace. I highly recommend this book.

True Heroism (9/9 people found this helpful)

Written in the plain speach of a military man, this book gives a real account of those bloody days on the Golan Hights in which Israel was almost cut in two by the advancing Syrian Tank Divisions. It gives a impressive background to the conflict as well as snippets of what it takes to hold on when all appears lost. Kahalani, who won the Medal of Valour, Israel's highest award for bravery, writes mainly of the heroism of his soldiers and officers and of his own actions in a modest and almost embarassed way. Also, what is refreshing in a book about Middle East conflicts, there is almost no animosity to his enemy and even a begrudging respect. For students of modern Armoured Warfare, this book should be your Bible.

Bob Campbell

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