The Iran-Iraq War was one of the bloodiest and longest conventional conflicts of the twentieth century – and one that, accidentally, created the current nightmare of Islamic fundamentalist terrorism. There have been many books on the conflict, but Helion’s Iran–Iraq War mini-series was the first detailed military history using materials from both sides, as well as materials obtained from US intelligence circles and British Governmental archives. It provided a unique insight into a war which began through miscalculation and rapidly escalated into the longest conventional conflict in the post-Second World War era. Combining the four @War volumes previously published on this topic, The Iran-Iraq War: The Greatest Land War of the Late Twentieth Century details the origins of the conflict and how Saddam Hussein decided to invade; how the hamstrung Iraqi Army was able to conquer only a narrow strip of territory of Iran’s southern province of Khuzestan; the constantly growing Iranian counteroffensives that first recovered Khuzestan before invading Iraq and nearly breaking the back of its armed forces; the warfare between Iran and Iraq on the Central and Northern Fronts, and final Iraqi victories that forced Iran into accepting a UN-mediated cease-fire. This special edition features an extensive quantity of new material that does not appear in the individual volumes, including detailed appendices providing the organisational structure of the protagonists’ armies and their equipment holdings. It is lavishly illustrated with colour photographs as well as colour artworks of the vehicles, aircraft and soldiers involved, a number of which have been specially commissioned for this edition. The Iran-Iraq War: The Greatest Land War of the late Twentieth Century is the most detailed military history of this conflict available, and a unique, single-point source of reference on this topic.

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Pages: 416

Dimensions: 210 x 297 mm

Publication Date: 31-07-2022

The Iran-Iraq War was one of the bloodiest conflicts of the 20th Century and accidentally created the current nightmare of Islamic fundamentalist terrorism. There have been many books on the conflict but this is the first detailed military history using materials from both sides, as well as materials obtained from US Intelligence circles and British Governmental archives. It provides a unique insight into a war which began through miscalculation and rapidly escalated into the longest conventional conflict in the post-Second World War era. The third volume covers the last two years of the war on the Southern front, where Iranians made their last supreme effort to break through Iraqi lines during the winter of 1986-1987. Iraqi defences just about held. For a year, there was an ominous silence, but then Iraq launched a series of devastating blows that recovered the Faw Peninsula, pulverised weakly-occupied Iranian positions, and drove the frontlines back to the international border. Iran was left with no option but to sue for peace.

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Pages: 80

Dimensions: 210 x 300 mm

Publication Date: 05-04-2018

The Iran-Iraq War was one of the bloodiest conflicts of the 20th Century and accidentally created the current nightmare of Islamic fundamentalist terrorism. There have been many books on the conflict but this is the first detailed military history using materials from both sides, as well as materials obtained from US Intelligence circles and British Governmental archives. It provides a unique insight into a war which began through miscalculation and rapidly escalated into the longest conventional conflict in the post-Second World War era. Part 4 in this mini-series covers the warfare between Iran and Iraq on the Central and Northern Fronts. Difficult terrain made it problematic for either side to assemble overwhelming superiority. Following initial Iraqi attacks that seized some territory, the Iranians began gradually nibbling back until achieving some success in the center, in 1982. Subsequently, the Central Front saw only minor conventional battles until Iraq launched several major blows in 1988. In the north, fighting primarily revolved around several Kurdish insurgencies in northern Iraq, and culminated in the horror of the Halabcheh gas attack. The final campaign of the war saw Iraq-supported Iranian émigrés launching a spectacular, but also a swiftly-crushed, invasion of their homeland.

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Pages: 80

Dimensions: 210 x 300 mm

Publication Date: 19-04-2018

Early in the morning of 2 August 1990, aircraft of the Iraqi Air Force bombed Kuwaiti air bases, and then the Iraqi Republican Guards stormed into the country. Thus began what would be called the 'Gulf War' - also the 'II Gulf War', and sometimes the 'II Persian Gulf War' - fought between January and March 1991. Although encountering some problems, the Iraqi forces occupied Kuwait in a matter of few days. However, when President Saddam Hussein of Iraq unleashed his military upon Kuwait, little did he know what kind of reaction he would provoke from the Western superpowers, and what kind of devastation his country would suffer in return. Concerned about the possibility of Iraq continuing its advance into Saudi Arabia, the USA - in coordination with Great Britain, France, and several local allies - reacted by deploying large contingents of their air, land, and naval forces to the Middle East. Months of fruitless negotiations and the continuous military buildup - Operation Desert Shield - followed, as tensions continued to increase. Determined to retain Kuwait, and despite multiple warnings from his own generals, Saddam Hussein rejected all demands to withdraw. The USA and its allies, 'the Coalition', were as determined to drive out the invader and restore Kuwaiti independence. Gradually, they agreed this would have to be by force. Following an authorization from the United Nations, the Coalition launched Operation Desert Storm, on 17 January 1991, opening one of the most intensive air campaigns in history. The last conventional war of the 20th Century saw the large, but essentially traditional, Iraqi Army overwhelmed by forces trained and equipped to exploit the latest technologies. Desert Storm reveals the whole war fought between Iraq and an international coalition, from the start of this campaign to its very end. Largely based on data released from official archives, spiced with numerous interviews, and illustrated with over 100 photographs, 18 color profiles and maps, it offers a refreshing insight into this unique conflict.

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Pages: 112

Dimensions: 210 x 300 mm

Publication Date: 13-08-2019

The Iran-Iraq War was one of the bloodiest conflicts of the 20th century and accidentally created the current nightmare of Islamic fundamentalist terrorism. There have been many books on the conflict, but this is the first detailed military history using materials from both sides, as well as materials obtained from US intelligence circles and British governmental archives. It provides a unique insight into a war which began through miscalculation and rapidly escalated into the longest conventional conflict in the post-Second World War era. The first volume looks at the background and describes in detail how Saddam Hussein decided to invade, but hamstrung, the Iraqi Army to restrict its greatest success to a narrow strip of territory in Iran's southern province of Khuzestan. This left the Iraqis unable to either advance or withdraw, and exposed them to ever greater and more successful Iranian counter-strokes which drove them out in May 1982 in the ferocious Battle of Khorramshahr.

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Pages: 88

Dimensions: 210 x 297 mm

Publication Date: 15-11-2019

Volume 2 takes up the account after Iraq withdrew from Khuzestan and is based upon material from both sides, from US Intelligence data, British Government documents and secret Iraqi files. Iraq's withdrawal exposed the great southern city of Basra to Iranian attack but it was shielded by fortifications based upon a huge anti-tank ditch, the so-called Fish Lake, which the Iranians tried to storm in the summer of 1982. This bloody failure left Tehran in a position where prestige prevented a withdrawal into Iran but the armed forces lacked the resources to bring the conflict to a favorable conclusion. During the next four years the Iranians tried to outflank the Fish Lake defenses initially through the marshes in the north and finally through an attack on the Fao Peninsula which increased national prestige but was a strategic failure and paved the way for Iraq's massive victories in 1988. This followed a series of successful defensive battles in which the Iranians were driven back with great loss. This account describes the battles in greater detail than before and, by examining them, provides unique insights and ends many of the myths which are repeated in many other accounts of this conflict.

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Pages: 112

Dimensions: 210 x 297 mm