The Heights of Courage: A Tank Leader's War on the Golan

General Geroge S. Patton would have loved to have lived long enough to read the account of this tank battle...........

I have served in Iraq and Kosovo as an officer in the US Army and this is one of the best accounts of Tank Warfare I have ever come across. It was mandatory reading in my Military History Class at West Point. After reading this book, I felt as if I had walked in the author's shoes and seen the war from his prospective. I could not believe that his Brigade Commander gave him only a few hours to attack into Syria.... amazing. What is truly compelling to learn how Israelis viewed this war in a much different way from Americans. If an American is sent to war, it usually requires a one week boat ride or a 24 hour+ flight. Loved ones are a distant memory an ocean away. For the author and his men, defeat meant that their wives and children would die too, for they were living only a few hours behind the front line soldiers.

I read this book in Hebrew. Avigdor Kahalani is one of the great soldiers in the history of Israel. He was close to death from wounds on the field of battle, and yet came back to fight another war. The action of Kahalani and his men on the Golan Heights during the first days of the Yom Kippur War helped save the State of Israel. Kahalani is a soldier's soldier who does not idealize war but presents it in all its confusion, disorder, dirt and difficulty. He tells his story straightforwardly and clearly . Those more experienced than myself have said that this is one of the best books about combat that they have ever read. It is also a book about real heroism and character and how they truly do exist in the world.

Undoubtedly this is one of the greatest, most well written battle stories of our time. This is an excellent first-hand account by one who was there and experienced the fighting from beginning to end. A brilliant book written from the vantage point of the men actually fighting on the front line.This is the absorbing story of a Unit Commander of Battalion 77 of the Israeli Army, fighting against incredible odds against numerically superior and better equipped Syrian forces on the Golan Heights, during the Yom Kippur War of 1973.The author, Avigdor Kahalani (who received Israel's highest military decoration - the Medal Of Honour), reveals and transmits the fears, traumas and other aspects of human behaviour experienced during the often unbearable stresses of battle.We are provided with detailed accounts of how a few courageous men and their leaders, prevailed against desperate, apparently insurmountable odds. This in the context of a failure by Israel to recognise the Arab threat, to sufficiently mobilise in time and thereby being forced to face immense enemy offensive actions with only a small standing force of regulars. The author provides an analysis of the tactics used, initially just to contain the Syrian offensive & survive, and then to counter-attack resulting in a victory which forced the Syrians to sue for a ceasefire.This is the compelling story of an elite brigade, from the Commanding Officer through to the soldiers on the ground, who defeated the Syrian forces and succeeded in destroying all the Syrian tanks that had penetrated the Golan Heights.A breathless read which proceeds at a lightning pace. I highly recommend this book, it really is a first class read. I also recommend another book on this subject entitled, "Duel For The Golan; The 100 Hour Battle That Saved Israel" by Jerry Asher/Eric Hammel. To fully understand the Yom Kippur War, one really needs to understand what occurred on the Golan Heights and the possible repercussions of an Israeli defeat. These two books will provide an excellent reference on this subject.

I'm an active duty armour officer, I've never been in combat, so for me was very emotionaly to read this book and see how the author describes the action and all the situations product of a real war.