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5.0 out of 5 stars
Sword Point - Superb military fiction based on doctrine!, Sep 1 2003
From Harold Coyle's first novel "Team Yankee," we learned that he could write extraordinarily well while threading much of his work around what was doctrine, at that time, against the ever present threat of a Soviet Union that was perceived to be bent on world domination. Fortunately, history proved this "threat" to have been a misperception. With "Sword Point," Harold Coyle proved that one, "Team Yankee" wasn't a fluke and two, that he was capable of even more depth in his story and that he is quite capable of delivering the "punch" in the story at the right time. This is why, when I wish to read a story involving mostly ground warfare and the people that must fight it, I look forward to a novel written by Harold Coyle. Although I truly do enjoy a Clancy novel in which he goes through all of the political machinations before during and after the fighting starts, what I truly like about Coyle's novels is that he doesn't spend too much time on that aspect and goes straight into the battles and the people behind those battles. From the Foreword, through twenty one chapters and the Epilogue, Harold Coyle placed a hauntingly poignant and quite relevant quote for that chapter, from Karl Von Clausewitz to Arthur Wellesley, each quote is "dead on" appropriate to that chapter. Also of great importance to this novel and for the likes of those from Publishers Weekly who didn't quite understand what was happening in this novel, is a brief description of the graphics and overlays used by the military and a glossary to help with some of the more common terminology used in the military. The premise: This is a story put to paper prior to the fall of the "iron curtain" that is told, with frightening clarity, of what could possibly have happened if during the later years of the cold war, the USSR had decided that a play for the Straight of Hormuz and Iran's oil fields would've been worth risking, turning the cold war into a very hot one. It is the predawn hours of May 25th in the Armenian province of the Soviet Socialist Republic and a Soviet Armored column makes an easy break across the border into Iran. They're headed straight for Tehran and further to the Straight of Hormuz, their mission; secure the country by removing those in power in Tehran and gaining control of the Arab nation's oil fields and reserves. The Politburo knows that the Iranians do not have the military power to stop them and doesn't believe the Americans will get involved. They're of course wrong as the United States immediately begins to mobilize its forces and heads for Iran in order to stop the USSR from gaining control of this key territory and destabilizing the oil industry. Along with the threat of the USSR gaining complete control of this key strategic area and the implied possibility that they might use chemical weapons against American and allied forces there is the very real threat that the Iranians, being besieged by both the greater Satan Americans who are there to "help" them, and the lesser Satan Soviets, is the threat that they have a crude nuclear device that they wish to attempt to start world war three with. I highly recommend this novel to any and all fans of this genre! It is truly a classic in the military/political genre. I myself have been in the Army for several years and have read many of the same training and doctrine treatises that Harold Coyle used as a basis for this story and I am thoroughly impressed by his ability to take these training and doctrine manuals and turn them into such a compelling and intriguing tale of modern warfare. {ssintrepid}
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