Desert Battles: From Napoleon to the Gulf War

Desert Battles is a study of the nature of desert warfare with special attention to the evolution of weaponry, the organisation of forces, the impact of the desert environment on the ability of those forces to sustain battle, and the influences of the desert on battle tactics. After an examination of deserts as a physical context for battle, Watson focuses on seven campaigns: Napoleon’s expedition to Egypt in 1798-99; the British campaign along India’s north-west frontier from 1849 to 1852; the Iraq campaign during World War I; the British counterattack against the Italians in North Africa in 1940-41; the exploits of Erwin Rommel and his Afrika Korps in North Africa in 1941; the 1973 Yom Kippur War; and the 1991 Gulf War.