Back in 1995, I wrote the following evaluations of the first few "historical" works to come out on the Gulf War. Like most international affairs, the war was shaped by the complex history of the region in which it occurred. As the pivotal event in many peoples lives, it drew a great deal of attention, and three years after it "ended," the first wave of scholarship on the war emerged. I examined several of the works that deal with the war, evaluating them in terms of accuracy, bias, readability, and their value as a source for later historians.

These works essentially fall into three distinct categories: Popular; Popular works that try to be academic; and Academic. Popular works generally contain few if any footnotes and present the war in the form of anecdotes. They often concentrate on individual actions and impressions with only small attempts to present the big picture. Academic works tend to be the opposite. They are copiously footnoted, speak in an impersonal tone, and present the broad sweep of events to their readers. The middle category consists of dry, impersonal works that are not documented. All three categories are subject to bias, the popular books slightly more so, because of their more personal nature. The books I examine fall along the spectrum of these categories. I will attempt to examine them along this spectrum, beginning with the popular works.

More Gulf War Literature Survey

Introduction
A Woman at War Review.
Famous Victory Review.
From Shield to Storm Review.
Desert Shield to Desert Storm Review.

A Survey of Gulf War Literature Part II

Triumph Without Victory Review.
It Doesn't Take a Hero Review.
Desert Victory Review.
The Gulf Confict 1990-1991 Review.