No army in the Middle East has been as written about in English as has Israel's, yet this book actually says something new. Reuven Gal, former chief psychologist of the IDF, looks at the influences on the Israeli soldier and their impact on the IDF's performance. He is able to deal with issues such as motivation and camaraderie, leadership and heroism from a human viewpoint. . . . a detailed assembly of data such as this one is welcome, and the sociological-psychological jargon is kept at a minimum. This is neither hagiography nor psychobabble, and it contains a great deal of detail....

An innovative addition to the literature of military studies, this exploration of the issues of legitimacy and commitment in the military focuses on the contemporary military situation, critically analyzing current fault lines and future trends in this area. The editors, Thomas C. Wyatt and Reuven Gal, contend that post-World War II wars are different from the two wars preceding them, that the nontraditional wars in Algeria, Vietnam, Pakistan, Lebanon, the Falkland Islands, and Grenada, among others, can be characterized by issues of national concensus and home support, political debates,...