This book is a good, brief picture book of the 10th Mountain (Light Infantry) Divison that is stationed in Fort Drum, New York; but it is marred by several things-

1)There are few (and I mean FEW) pictures of the 10th MTN in Somalia and Haiti. The 2-14 ("Golden Dragons") of the 10th MTN were the Quick Reaction Force that aided the Rangers is Somalia, as described in "BLACK HAWK DOWN!" but this incident is hardly commented upon in the book.

2)The author interjects his comments on some silly things and repeats himself SEVERAL times about the same issue, over and over again (he suggests changing the webgear from OD to a light brown several times).

Overall, it is a good general overview of the 10th Mountain Division.

"Climb to Glory!"

Eye taught tha bok wuz infourmacional. Eye niver new tis bok wuz un mi reeding level. Thi nd

This is one of the best book I read about the us soldiers.there are alot of nice pictures,you see their training, their weapons.The first time I saw those guys was during the operation in HAITI,it is really a elite division.

For those with curiosity about all the factions involved this book will be helpful. The author states that the detail on the Arabic forces is lacking. The events covered here in the two volumes The Israeli Army in the Middle East Wars, 1948-1973, and Arab Armies in the Middle East Wars, 1948-1973. Subsequent events are covered in the volume Armies in Lebanon, 1982-84.
The rivalry between Israel and the surrounding Arab nations goes back before WW II with the 1917 Balfour Declaration that a homeland for the Jews would be established in Palestine. This was done in the wake of the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire without consulting the Arabic peoples of Palestine.
After much unrest in the 1930s matters came to a head in 1948 after the British left and Israel was proclaimed, the surrounding Arabic states invaded Palestine. The resulting war caused many of the Palestinian Arabs to flee the conflict. The resulting de facto partition resulting from the Israeli victory led to four more major ground wars and ongoing border raids and terrorism.
Their return was not to be allowed, even more tragically, they were kept in refugee camps and not allowed to disperse or assimilate in the rest of the Arab world in a manner similar to that done by the displaced persons who fled Eastern Europe in 1945. Now, several generations on, the desires of the Palestinians to return, destroy the state of Israel, and reclaim the land of their origin, have festered for so long that no rational solution seems in sight. At various times the Israeli's neighbors have backed or opposed or expelled the Palestinian forces in response to their own internal political imperatives. Thus, the Egyptians have signed a peace with Israel, while the rest have not. Syrians, Saudis, and others have continued to offer them refuge and aid while the Kingdom of Jordan expelled them all in "Black September" 1970, an event which led to the raid on the Olympic delegation in 1972.
No matter what side your sympathy lies, hope of peace is still remote, and all concerned victims of this conflict deserve the prayers and good wishes of the world.
The color plates are of the usual high quality and cover
the Israeli, Lebanese, Jordanian, Egyptian and other local forces.

this is an excellent introduction to the arab israeli conflicts summarizes everything beautiffuly dont miss the illustrations & photos

More than almost any other nation on earth, Israel relies for its survival on a large, superbly trained and equipped air force ready for instant action. Sam Katz, a veteran profiler of the world's elite counter-terrorist and police forces gives an excellent overview of how this amazing organization operates. The highlight, however, is undoubtedly the chapter on the incredibly demanding selection and training process for Israeli pilots. Katz's trademark "buff" prose grates after awhile, but overall, a fine handbook.

Samuel Katz, an IDF veteran of Operation Oeace for Galilee, is also a veteran chronicler of the Israeli Defence Forces and an experienced terrorist profiler. His sabra (native-born Israeli) wife helps give him an edge over non-Hebrew-speaking IDF researchers.

Israel's Air Force - The Power Series is a great book to gain information about the Hel Ha'Avir or the Israeli Air Force (IAF). The book is a great complement to other IAF book such as those by Lon Nordeen, Peter Mersky, Salvador Huertas, or others. What it offers that others don't is a chapter-by-chapter overview of the IAF that is easily accessible. Chapters cover such details and information as: A comprehesive introduction, a great IAF history up to 1991 including a rivetting story of the rescue of a downed flier in Lebanon, background on IAF pilots and training, IAF airbases, the helicopter forces (a relatively new branch of the IAF), the IAF Aeromedical Evacuation Units, the air defence forces, as well as a handy aircraft glossary.

I highly recommend this book and its' companion: Israel's Army - Landpower #3005. They are the very best introductory and general volumes available on the IDF.

This book was'nt what I imagined it to be. It's virtually pure propaganda of Israeli intelligence and their military services. Samuel Katz takes a one sided view here and mostly describes the Israeli population suffering due to the suicide bombers destruction. He virtually ignores the fact on why the Palestinians resort to this method and does not inform the readers how the Israeli's murder of innocent civillians started the whole issue. Samuel Katz should have explored both sides of the issue well before writing this book. Furthermore, those wanting to know of how Israeli agents tracked the bomber would be dissapointed as the book largely focuses on Israeli politics. A bad buy to anyone interested. I would recommend "By Way Of Deception" by Victor Ostrovsky and "Gideon's Spies" by Gordon Thomas for a compelling read.

Some people have read this novel expecting a book about Israeli spies, spy tradecraft, and cloak and dagger "action." That's not what this book is about. What Samuel Katz has written is an informative history of one particularly notorious genocide-bomber (popularly called suicide-bombers in the media) and the effect his bombing attacks had on the Israeli people and their government.

He provides every kind of background and history needed to be well-informed about what happened. Some of the data provided include familial history of Yehiyyah Ayash "The Engineer," the political infighting among Israeli governmental agencies how to combat Ayash, details of operations against terrorism by the Sayeret Matkal, how the attacks effected the Israeli public (both Jewish-Israelis and Arab-Israelis no matter what their faith), and other background.

With the tight security precautions that Israelis show, don't expect too many details about what happened that aren't widespread public knowledge already. Katz does detail how many of the bombs were made from easily purchasable materials, but not in so much detail that bombs will be made using the information from this novel. It's definitely tamer than the "Anarchist Cookbook" if you get my drift. Some of what can be done with a cell phone was fascinating....

I recommend the book for anyone wanting to know more how terrorism can affect international politics and a society. This book could be especially useful in light of the 9-11 terrorist attack on the USA. The Israeli's history can be a sort of testbed for other nations that will soon have to deal with continual attacks from terrorist organizations.

Don't read this book if you want an in-depth study of Palestinian-Arab society. He does talk about some factors involved in producing Genocide-bombers, but I wouldn't call the book friendly to Palestinian-Arab interests in any way, shape, or form. Katz simply isn't an apologist for terrorists. At the same time, I detect a sympathy for the suffering Palestinian-Arab people.

If you are looking for good books about Israeli spies, try "Every Spy a Prince" by Dan Raviv and Yossi Melman or "Soldier Spies" also by Samuel Katz.

End Impression: "The Hunt for the Engineer" is a great book if you know what you're looking for. If what your looking for is an insightful look at terrorism and how to combat it, this is a great read!

This latest book by Samuel M. Katz is the culmination in a body of superb work on military and intelligence matters. His recounting of the most bloody events in recent Middle East history is not only informative, but paints a vivid picture in depth of the heroes and villains, often interchangeable, who danced a macabre tango of death during the hunt for one of the world's most determined and lethal terrorists. Given Katz' other books, such as The Elite and Soldier Spies, I fully expected a biased vew on the subject. But Katz has deftly probed the psyches of Israeli intelligence agents as well as those of the Islamic bombers determined to scuttle any Middle East peace, which ultimately leads the reader to sway between the hunters and the hunted. Like the very best of thriller fiction, this book is a breathtaking page-turner!

As a reader of Katz's other books, I was sorely disappointed by him (or his editors) - whoever is responsible for the editing the content. I found some of captions to some of pictures to be totally inaccurate (i.e., men exiting a Huey clearly marked with West German marking as elite American soldiers). These errors lead me to believe that some of the writing and facts could also be flawed or inaccurate. I ended up returning the book.

THIS BOOK IS VERY GOOD,THERE ARE A LOT OF INFORMATION ABOUT ANTI-TERRORIST FORCES OF THE WORLD.IT'S FULL WHITH COLOR PICTURES,BUT YOU FORGOT SOME VERY GOOD UNITS LIKE WHAT YOU CAN FIND IN HAITI.WE HAVE A VERY EFFECTIVE SPECIAL RESPONSE TEAM "LE GIPNH".IT IS A WELL TRAINED TEAM AND THEY ARE VERY PROFESSIONAL.
NEXT TIME ,THINK ABOUT THEM WHEN YOU WILL PUBLISH SUCH BOOK.

I was attracted by the flashy cover and promptly bought it. Being a seasoned enthusiast, i was slightly disappointed at the wrong descriptions here and there. Also, the section for Singapore did not have much information! Do you need some help with that?

I don't know why I bought this book. It seemed like good fluff reading. It wasn't. I'm a New York City cop, and yes ESU does amazing things and they are invaluable to us. But the author spends the entire book rehashing none too exciting stories and kissing up to all the cops. Sentences like, "These guys are the real heroes of the job." are nice when uttered by some unknown sergeant in Brooklyn, but they keep getting repeated over and over. This book isn't really even worth this much typing on my part. If you're looking for fluff that glamorizes this job, then buy this book. If you're looking for a true and in depth account of the NYPD's special rescue and weapons capabilities, then keep looking.

I cannot for the life of me understand some of the numerous negative reviews listed by other amazon.com readers. It seems that many who have submitted their negative comments are either civilians with animosity toward cops, firemen with jealousy toward the men in blue, NYPD cops unqualified (or without the proper phone call) to get into ESU, and ESU officers from, perhaps, a not so busy ESU squad not featured in a book of their own. This book is an honest and, true, sometimes far too glowing portrayal of life inside an ESU squad. It seems that the author has done the men and women of the squad a great service by profiling them as heroic and life-saving specialists, as opposed to the usual malcontents one finds in honest unit profiles. Yet this book is also full of dramatic and humorous stories that shows these officers to be human and imperfect, tasked with a difficult and often unheralded job. Watch NYPD Blue or read self-serving biographies of the NYPD's Finest if you want fluff--read this book if you want the true story--blemishes, danger and all.

Once again Samuel Katz delves into the intimate operational and personality details that keep me coming back to read more of his stuff. I have no idea how he hooks up with these folks or manages to get on the scene in the midst of all this action, but he certainly does a fine service for law enforcement (as well as some military and special ops) units everywhere. If you want the nitty-gritty of an overburdened urban SWAT team, warts and all, read this. If you want phony dialogue and fairy-tale endings, watch tv.

I am somewhat disappointed with this book even though it covers this particular conflict thoroughly. The problem is the pro-Israeli bias which is not even subtle. This is reflected in the text and some of the captions of the otherwise good photographs. Even the plates show drawings of heroic looking Israeli troops and frightened lebanese militiamen and Syrian troops. Authors should seek whenever possible to analyse complex problems such as the Lebanese Civil War in a balanced and scholarly way. My own perception is that this book does not follow these basic principles.

For those with curiosity about all the factions involved this book will be helpful. This book details the complex factional civil war in Lebanon, the Palestinian occupation of the south, the Israeli invasion, and the foreign intervention attempt to make peace. The events covered here follow on from those covered in the two earlier volumes The Israeli Army in the Middle East Wars, 1948-1973, and Arab Armies in the Middle East Wars, 1948-1973.
The rivalry between Israel and the surrounding Arab nations goes back before WW II with the 1917 Balfour Declaration that a homeland for the Jews would be established in Palestine. This was done in the wake of the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire without consulting the Arabic peoples of Palestine.
After much unrest in the 1930s matters came to a head in 1948 after the British left and Israel was proclaimed, the surrounding Arabic states invaded Palestine. The resulting war caused many of the Palestinian Arabs to flee the conflict. The resulting de facto partition resulting from the Israeli victory led to four more major ground wars and ongoing border raids and terrorism.
But their return was not to be allowed but even more tragically, they were kept in refugee camps and not allowed to disperse or assimilate in the rest of the Arab world in a manner similar to that done by the displaced persons who fled Eastern Europe in 1945. Now, several generations on, the desires of the Palestinians to return, destroy the state of Israel, and reclaim the land of their origin, have festered for so long that no rational solution seems in sight. At various times the Israeli's neighbors have backed or opposed or expelled the Palestinian forces in response to their own internal political imperatives. Thus, the Egyptians have signed a peace with Israel, while the rest have not. Syrians, Saudis, and others have continued to offer them refuge and aid while the Kingdom of Jordan expelled them all in "Black September" 1970, an event which led to the raid on the Olympic delegation in 1972.
No matter on what side your sympathy lies, hope of peace is still remote, and all concerned victims of this conflict deserve the prayers and good wishes of the world.
The color plates are of the usual high quality and, along with the Israeli, Lebanese, and other local forces, cover the French, Italian, and US Marines sent to seperate the warring factors along the Green Line in Beirut.

What makes the Merkava unique in modern MBTs is the engine in front approach to crew protection. This means that there is access via a hatch in the rear of the vehicle, yet there one interior drawing (cut away) is not detailed enough to gain a real appreciation of what the designers accomplished.

Overall, this book is ok for a modeler, but I would want to see more of the interior of this tank.

Because the IDF tank corps modifies the Merkava Chariot tank once each decade, then Mr. Katz should have known that the version for the entire next decade of 2000 to 2010 was only months away. Sure enough the announcement in November that the new Merkava Mk4 with the 1500 hspw pack with unique kinetic energy amunition was in production and under going field test that have exceeded 10,000 hours by November 5th, 1999. So much has been up graded electronically as well as performance that it rates as much fanfaren as the introduction of the first Merkava! I hope the author will consider an up dated or revised edition and yes, more color photo's and interior detail would not hurt either... Thanks

Many reviewers forget that this book originally came out in 1997 although the lastest New Vanguard reprint occurred this year (2002). What that means is although the Merkhava Mk.IV made its' debut this year, the book has material that is now dated (The book's text only alludes to the Merkhava Mk.IV).

However, the New Vanguard series isn't a sales brochure meant to be the latest and greatest, but a book of historical art plates and background information for modellers, gamers, and military history enthusiasts. If you're buying the book as I did looking for great color plates and some background information then this is a great buy. I love my copy. Peter Sarson, the illustrator, is world-renowned and well-deserving of his spectacular cut-aways and drawings. I've found the book incredibly useful for the paintjobs and extra detailing on the Merkhava models I'm working on.

Don't buy this book if you only want up-to-date statistical information about the Merkhava tank series...

BUT, do buy this book if you're looking for wonderful color plates of the Merkhava tanks, a useful history of the tank, some great photographs, and some other great information. I recommend the book for those reasons.

My only criticism is that the book gives the lion's share of credit for the Merkhava design to General Tal, but many sources are now beginning to credit another officer, Yisrael Tilan - who also designed the tank, quarreled with Tal and later left the project. Hopefully another publisher will eventually give Yisrael Tilan the credit that he deserves.