"The 1973 Middle East war left in its wake not only shattered illusions, an escalation in the energy crisis and new challenges for the Middle East, but a spate of instant evaluations of its impact on warfare in the future. Now Chaim Herzog, Israel's foremost military analyst and a former head of Israeli military intelligence, has translated a mass of meticulously gathered research, including both unpublished documents and material published throughout the Middle East, into the first carefully considered and comprehensive analysis of the military aspects of the Yom Kippur War and its influence on present political trends and constellations.Tracing the roots of the 1973 conflict back to the Six Day War, Herzog demonstrates how the Israelis were lulled into a perilous state of over~confidence by their 'swift and elegant' victory in 1967 and their experience in the 'War of Attrition' and plots the Arab moves towards war from 1967 onwards, uncovering the elements of the Egyptian military and political deception that allowed the Arab armies to mass on the cease~fire lines and still take the Israeli defence establishment by 'surprise'. His dramatic description of the course of the war on the two fronts ~ based upon interviews with the combatants ~ is characterized by a sharp sense of immediacy, punctuated by harrowing scenes of battle and moving incidents of heroism alike. Finally, the book turns to an analysis of the military lessons and political implications of the war, evaluating the failings of Israeli strategy, the role of the sophisticated Soviet~supplied armaments and the fighting ability of the Egyptian and Syrian armed forces. In delving into the part played by the Soviet Union in conspiring to unleash yet another round of fighting in this sensitive area, Herzog raises many timely questions about the policy of detente and spells out the broader lessons of the 1973 war for the future of the free West."