Texas-Israeli War: 1999

I come back to this one again and again, it's one of my favorite stories from when I was a kid. Regarding Glen's review: If you look for flaws in anything, you will find them. If you accept a story for what it is, you can relax and enjoy it.

A friend who knows that I research the Arab-Israeli conflict recommended this fun little Sci-fi novel and I'm very glad she did. I enjoyed reading this novel very much. It was very nice light entertainment.Jake Saunders and Howard Waldrop, the authors, have fashioned an extremely entertaining post-holocaust action novel in the rebellious remnants of the United States. It's obvious that both spent a lot of time reading and researching before the novel was written because there a quite a few disparate elements successfully rolled together in this light entertaining novel. Among the elements are: Wild West Texas Rangers cowboy story elements, an interest in the Arab-Israeli wars, an interest in W.W.II military hardware, an interest in Cold War politics, and probably, above all else, a projected post-nuclear Armageddon scenario.The novel was written in 1974 and parts of the novel cobbled together into a novelette previously appeared in Galaxy Magazine in July, 1973. This story was probably written during the height of the 1973 Yom Kippur War and probably the authors drew much inspiration from what appeared in the newspapers, magazine, and other media of the time. The authors built an alternate history in which 1992 a limited nuclear exchange and widespread use of biological and chemical weapons has killed nine out of every ten people in the world. The two coalitions were a Chinese-Irish-Afrikaaner versus a Russo-British coalition that eventually allies with the United States. Europe waffles and is mostly destroyed in the crossfire. The Israelis stood neutral and their sworn Arab enemies attacked Israel, but with little result. Egyptians bombers managed to hit Tel Aviv, but after that brief attack, the Arab world was all but destroyed by Israeli military might. As neutrals, Israel managed to avoid all but the lingering effects of the WMD (weapons of mass destruction) exchange and stands as one of the last prospering enclaves of humanity. In fact, Israel is so prosperous that they have an overpopulation problem. Enter story plot element one, Israel now hires out its excess population as mercenary soldiers to the rest of the world.Meanwhile, in the shattered remnants of the USA, Texas declares independence and a second US civil war develops, with a Second Lone Star Republic arising driven by oil interests and the SA, Sons of the Alamo, a white supremacy Gestapo-like group holding the power behind the throne. Israeli mercenaries have been hired out to both sides of the war and the book's protagonists are a mixed unit of Israeli tankists and reinforcements from the federal government. Their mission is to penetrate the heart of Texas and rescue the kidnapped president of the USA.However, the World War has not only destroyed the world's population, but along with that population went the many technicians who maintained the technology that not only drove high-tech societies, but their military machines as well. Any weapon surviving is thrust onto the field i

A friend who knows that I research the Arab-Israeli conflict recommended this fun little Sci-fi novel and I'm very glad she did. I enjoyed reading this novel very much. It was very nice light entertainment.Jake Saunders and Howard Waldrop, the authors, have fashioned an extremely entertaining post-holocaust action novel in the rebellious remnants of the United States. It's obvious that both spent a lot of time reading and researching before the novel was written because there a quite a few disparate elements successfully rolled together in this light entertaining novel. Among the elements are: Wild West Texas Rangers cowboy story elements, an interest in the Arab-Israeli wars, an interest in W.W.II military hardware, an interest in Cold War politics, and probably, above all else, a projected post-nuclear Armageddon scenario.The novel was written in 1974 and parts of the novel cobbled together into a novelette previously appeared in Galaxy Magazine in July, 1973. This story was probably written during the height of the 1973 Yom Kippur War and probably the authors drew much inspiration from what appeared in the newspapers, magazine, and other media of the time. The authors built an alternate history in which 1992 a limited nuclear exchange and widespread use of biological and chemical weapons has killed nine out of every ten people in the world. The two coalitions were a Chinese-Irish-Afrikaaner versus a Russo-British coalition that eventually allies with the United States. Europe waffles and is mostly destroyed in the crossfire. The Israelis stood neutral and their sworn Arab enemies attacked Israel, but with little result. Egyptians bombers managed to hit Tel Aviv, but after that brief attack, the Arab world was all but destroyed by Israeli military might. As neutrals, Israel managed to avoid all but the lingering effects of the WMD (weapons of mass destruction) exchange and stands as one of the last prospering enclaves of humanity. In fact, Israel is so prosperous that they have an overpopulation problem. Enter story plot element one, Israel now hires out its excess population as mercenary soldiers to the rest of the world.Meanwhile, in the shattered remnants of the USA, Texas declares independence and a second US civil war develops, with a Second Lone Star Republic arising driven by oil interests and the SA, Sons of the Alamo, a white supremacy Gestapo-like group holding the power behind the throne. Israeli mercenaries have been hired out to both sides of the war and the book's protagonists are a mixed unit of Israeli tankists and reinforcements from the federal government. Their mission is to penetrate the heart of Texas and rescue the kidnapped president of the USA.However, the World War has not only destroyed the world's population, but along with that population went the many technicians who maintained the technology that not only drove high-tech societies, but their military machines as well. Any weapon surviving is thrust onto the field i

I read this book when I was much younger and I just re-read, again. I love it. this is an anti war war book.

A truely humorous look at a post-nuclear world.