Sixty four fact-filled pages on the Crisis in the Persian Gulf--Plus the operations map that is ideal for plotting location on units mentioned in news broadcasts and newspaper articles.

Integrating interviews with individuals ranging from senior policymakers to frontline soldiers, a look at the Persian Gulf War shows how the conflict transformed modern warfare.

Using humor and frank candor, author Bacil Donovan Warren shares his personal experience, as well as that of his fellow tankers, as part of the US Army's 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment (the "Brave Rifles") in Saudi Arabia and Iraq. Warren recounts the initial shock of hearing about Iraq's invasion of Kuwait and his Regiment's preparation for deployment during Operation Desert Shield. He describes the stress and sometimes mind-numbing boredom of being deployed deep in the desert of Saudi Arabia, constantly preparing for a possible Iraqi invasion. He recalls the terrifying experience of the start of the air war of Operation Desert Storm and the workmanlike action during combat against Iraq's Republican Guard forces during Operation Desert Sabre. With It or in It brings clarity and focus to their unceasing efforts to bring the conflict to a swift and decisive end. Finally, Warren describes the triumphant return of the Brave Rifles to Ft. Bliss, Texas, and the waiting arms of their families and loved ones.

Phillip Thompson had kept a journal for years, from the time he was in college in the 1980s at the University of Mississippi until he attended the Artillery Officers' Advanced Course, when the demands of school interrupted. His desire to keep track of the events in his life was re-ignited with the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, his impending deployment to the Persian Gulf in August 1990, and the beginning of Operation Desert Shield. While in the Persian Gulf, Thompson kept a small green, military-issue notebook with him at all times, writing down everything he could, drawing maps, explaining his emotions, and oftentimes, venting his anger. Upon his return from Saudi Arabia in 1991, he had filled three notebooks, which evolved into this work. Here are Thompson's personal experiences and his observations of those around him in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.

In early summer of 1990, Joel Turnipseed was homeless--kicked out of his college's philosophy program, dumped by his girlfriend. He had been AWOL from his Marine Corps Reserve unit for more than three months, spending his days hanging out in coffee shops reading Plato and Thoreau. Then Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. Turnipseed's unit was activated for service in Operation Desert Shield. By January of '91, he was in Saudi Arabia driving tractor-trailers for the Sixth Motor Transport Battalion--the legendary "Baghdad Express." The greatest logistical operation in Marine Corps history, the Baghdad Express hauled truckloads of explosives and ammunition across hundreds of miles of desert. But on the brink of war, Turnipseed's greatest struggles are still within. Armed with an M-16 and a seabag full of philosophy books, he is a wise-ass misfit, an ironic observer with a keen eye for vivid detail, a rebellious Marine alive to the moral ambiguity of his life and his situation. Developed from Turnipseed's 1997 feature article for GQ Magazine, this innovative memoir--simultaneously terrifying and hilarious, equal parts Catch-22 and Catcher in the Rye--explores both the absurdities of war and the necessity of accepting our flawed world of shadows. With expansive humanity and profane grace, Turnipseed finds the real-world answers to his philosophical questions and reaches the hardest peace for any young man to achieve--with himself.

Twenty years ago, the Persian Gulf War captured the attention of the world as the first test of the U.S. Army since the Vietnam War and the first large-scale armor engagement since World War II. Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait and his subsequent ouster by the U.S.-led coalition are keys to understanding today's situation in the Middle East. The coalition partnerships cemented in that initial operation and in the regional peacekeeping operations that followed provided the basis for a growing series of multinational efforts that have characterized the post-Cold War environment. Moreover, the growing interoperability of U.S. air, sea, and land forces coupled with the extensive employment of more sophisticated weapons first showcased in Desert Storm have become the hallmark of American military operations and the standard that other nations strive to meet.