Little Brown & Co., 1995, ISBN 0-316-32172-9, $27.95, 525 pgs.

The General's War is a great book, especially if you read it after The Commanders. It brings you into the planning process, complete with all the inter-service, and intra-service, rivalries, and takes you through the end of the war and the peace.

Once again Cheney and Powell come across in a good light. Cheney may not have served a day in uniform, but he knew how to ask questions. Indeed, his contribution is to ask questions about he western Desert of Iraq and the big left hook of Allied forces.

Of particular note is the contribution of Henry Rowen, a civilian serving as Assistant Defense Secretary for International Security Affairs. He had read History of the Arab Peoples by Sir John Bagot Glubb, a British officer who served in the Middle East from WWI to WWII and just after. The Arabs and British had supported operations across the same areas-why not the US; it sure beat the frontal attack currently planned by Schwartzkopf.

Timetables, orders, snafus, and successes follow in quick order. It's readable, fast-paced, and pokes a few holes in some of the myths. For example, the Iraqis were supposed to stand fast and fight to the last man. In fact, the regular army was deserting at a rapid rate-all that mattered were the divisions of the Republican Guard.

The Generals' War is an excellent one-volume history of the Gulf War that not only tells what happened, but how it came about and the background on why decisions and events occurred. You can find this book in the discount bin, and it's a worthwhile book to have on your shelf.