Monday, December 7, 2009

"Operation Phantom Fury: The Assault and Capture of Fallujah, Iraq" by Dick Camp




"Operation Phantom Fury" came out in the US past Friday. I have a few books about the second battle of Fallujah, but this one caught me by surprise. Written by a retired Marine officer, the perspective of the narrative covers the operational, grand tactical and tactical levels of the battle that the US Marines fought so hard. It is really a pleasure to read military history books written by servicemen.The physical book itself is just great ...
... with 300+ pages printed in heavy paper (certainly not good for bed reading), many photographs and Maps that mix the styles of the real operational maps of the command post with the eye-pleasing design you may see at a news broadcast.

From the editorial description:

The Second Battle for Fallujah, dubbed Operation Phantom Fury, took place over an almost two-month period, from November 7 to December 23, 2004. The Marine Corps' biggest battle in Iraq to date, it was so prolonged and fierce that it has entered the pantheon of USMC battles alongside Iwo Jima, Inchon, and Hue City. This book offers an in-depth, intimate look into Operation Phantom Fury, the single most significant battle undertaken during the occupation of Iraq. The author, a retired Marine Corps colonel with combat service in Vietnam, conducted personal interviews with combatants, from the division commander in charge of the operation down to Marine infantrymen who did the fighting. The result—illustrated with a hundred action photographs—is a rare firsthand account of the brutal reality of the war in Iraq, how this battle for a key city was fought, and how such a crucial battle looks from positions of command and from the thick of the fight.

A mini-review will come after I finish up other books I'm reading now.

Cheers,

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