Jandora spent five years in Saudi Arabia working with the National Guard and has a doctorate from the University of Chicago, good preparation for writing an overview of Arab warfare since its early days and compiling a useful bibliography. His study covers the grand old days of the early Muslim conquests and the repelling of Crusaders and Mongols, then rushes quickly to the nineteenth century, the World Wars, the conflict with Israel, and the inter-Arab wars of recent decades.

The accounts make no pretense at being comprehensive but are designed primarily to signal differences in interpretation among historians. For example, historians disagree about the effectiveness and importance of the Ottoman role in World War I. Clearly well read in the original sources, Jandora covers a wide range of issues, from the impact of warfare on architecture to battlefield tactics, with only a few political biases, most obviously a distaste for Israel. The bibliography is well designed for use by undergraduates or the interested layman, with listings confined to those in English and likely to be available in a basic university library. But at such a high price for a short volume, the book is not a good value for the money.