Crusade

The Untold Story of the Persian Gulf War

By: Rick Atkinson

Narrated by: Jeff Riggenbach

Length: 24 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

Throughout the Gulf War of 1991, unprecedented restrictions on the media’s access to the battlefield kept the true story of that brief, brutal conflict from being told. Now, after two years of intensive research, Rick Atkinson has written what will surely come to be recognized as the definitive chronicle of the war.

Crusade follows the unfolding battle from the first night to the final day, providing vivid accounts of bombing runs and White House strategy sessions, fire-fights and bitter inter-service conflicts. Weaving individual stories into the larger narrative, Atkinson represents the allied campaign against Saddam Hussein as a wholly new kind of war, one that has transformed the nature of modern warfare.

©1993 Rick Atkinson (P)1996 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"An engrossing account. Rich in pertinent details, the powerful narrative leaps nimbly from Washington to Riyadh." ( Publishers Weekly)

Outstanding writing, okay narration

Atkinson provides a solid insight into Desert Shield/Storm, Well researched, he provides the highs and lows of strategic decision making and command, while also covering some of the key engagements on the ground, sea and air.

Worst reader I’ve ever heard

The reading of this book was terrible. The reader miss pronounced so many words it was hard to count. There were also in numerous pauses making listening difficult. This book should be re-recorded.

Historical

Great read good sound, clear timeline and gives a good overview
Needs more details for after the war

Great account of Desert Shield/Storm

Would you consider the audio edition of Crusade to be better than the print version?

No. In fact, I got most of the way through this, then ordered it in hardcover.

What did you like best about this story?

Atkinson has a knack for finding a perfect middle-ground between The War as an event run by entire coalitions of governments and massive military units on the one side, and the troops in the proverbial trenches on the other side. It is therefore more readable than a history of politics and policy or of divisional maneuvers and terrain, while being broader in scope than, say, Jarhead. Stylistically, his writing brings things to life while giving the "big picture" history.

Have you listened to any of Jeff Riggenbach’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

This was my first. As other reviewers have doubtlessly pointed out, he mispronounces household names like Dick Cheney and Colin Powell. He also pronounces Arabic place names oddly; though "Sa-OO-di" may well be technically correct, it's not how anyone pronounced it when I was there twice with Operation Southern Watch. Aggravating.

Narrator

It drove me nuts almost to the point of not continuing to listen. The way the narrator pronounced some well known names and places was awful.

Thirty Years on Atkinson's Narrative Aged Well

I listened to this title, while on deployment to Iraq and Kuwait, ironically at many of the locations mentioned. When Atkinson described locations like Taji, Al-Qaim, The Ba'ath Party Headquarters Baghdad, or Ali Al Salem, Shiek Al Jaber Air Base, or Shuaiba Port in Kuwait -I couldn't help but think, these aren't far away places that I can't point on a map, I'm literally there or had just been there. Its a surreal feeling I can assure you.

As for the book, I feel Atkinson beautifully weaves the details of this brief war, blending the tactical on the ground events -often from the perspective of personnel involved as well as strategic perspective and political ramifications. The narrative has an entertaining 'in medias res' style that keeps the audience involved. With its prologue being of Gen. Schwartzkopf's dramatic entrance into Safwon for negotiations with the Iraqis, at the end of the war. Then going back to the first night of the air campaign, cutting between events in the Whitehouse, Pentagon, Riyadh, and the air over Iraq. He often cuts back and forth between the operations themselves and the context, detailing the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and failed diplomacy that resulted into conflict.

Some critics say that the book was overtly U.S. centric, however -that is pretty much an accurate description of the war. There are points where he focuses on both the British and French involvement -both of whom pulled the most weight after the Americans, while he rightly hand waves the local Arab coalition (The Saudis, Egyptians, Qataris, and Kuwaitis themselves) as relative non-factors, whose incompetence and poor quality diminished what little role they had -other than the purely symbolic Arab Liberation of Kuwait City.

I think a lot of Atkinson's criticism of the 1st Bush Administration is warranted, however, as it was written in 1993 -not long after the War ended thus -a lot of the full context of the War's aftermath (more importantly Bush's son 'finishing the job' and the resulting descent of Iraq into near eternal war) is lost.

As someone who recently left Iraq, Saddam's Ghost is alive and well -with many even speculating that as bad as he was, it is worse today. With Sunni and Shia militias fighting and killing one other -still even today as I type this, radical Wahhabi Islamist groups such as ISIS being born in the Post-Saddam insurgency, and Iran basically turning the government that our U.S. Government set up as its own puppet.

For all the criticism that was leveled at Bush for not overthrowing Saddam in '91, in retrospect, you can truly see why we didn't. And why doing it in '03 was probably the greatest blunder of the 21st Century hands down.

From someone who was there

I served with the 7th Corps in Desert Storm and I was very impressed with this book. I learned about things that were going on around me and it all made sense in what I experienced. A must read for veterans and students of history!

Clear Perspective on a Complicated War

A very worthwhile investment in understanding a complicated situation and the war that followed. Highly recommend!!

Detailed analysis, poor reader

Rick Atkinson definitely did a lot research to write this. The book is very detailed about events and provides insight into everything we didn’t see on TV at the time. The reader is not good. His mispronunciations are distracting.

not stellar naration. good source of information.

good source of information foe those unfamiliar with the events of the gulf war. this was all going on when I was a baby so its interesting to find out more a out it . somewhat. oring delivery but not a bad listen if you can look past the poor naration