By
– May 25, 2012
The meeting place of three continents, riven by the Syro-African Depression, both terrain and location have determined that the land of Israel should be the site of many of history’s fiercest battles. Defense analyst Gary Rashba gives us seventeen chapters of them, each one a brief stop in three millennia of warfare in the Holy Land.
Rashba usually focuses the scene on a particularly intense battle. The episodic treatment works, giving the author the opportunity to tell the history of an entire war without stepping too far away from the action. His use of the language of military strategy strengthens his effort to bring verisimilitude to what, in many chapters, such as the struggle of David with Goliath, are events so shrouded by time that the facts have to be invented or embellished.
One of the advantages of Rashba’s broad scope is to watch the technology and tactics of war change. From slingshot to Russian MiG, from long, slow sieges to ultra rapid attacks, from Saladin to Allenby, one thing is clear — the Holy Land is no stranger to war.
Rashba usually focuses the scene on a particularly intense battle. The episodic treatment works, giving the author the opportunity to tell the history of an entire war without stepping too far away from the action. His use of the language of military strategy strengthens his effort to bring verisimilitude to what, in many chapters, such as the struggle of David with Goliath, are events so shrouded by time that the facts have to be invented or embellished.
One of the advantages of Rashba’s broad scope is to watch the technology and tactics of war change. From slingshot to Russian MiG, from long, slow sieges to ultra rapid attacks, from Saladin to Allenby, one thing is clear — the Holy Land is no stranger to war.
Jeff Bogursky reads a lot, writes a little and talks quite a bit. He is a media executive and expert in digital media.
