October War - Memoirs of Field Marshal Saad Eddin Shazly

The wife of Field Marshal Saad Al-Shazly, Mrs. Zinat Al-Suhaimi, wrote in dedicating this book on the first page: "To the youth of January 25 who made the greatest revolutions and without which this book would not see the light." Yes, this book remained exiled away from its homeland for more than thirty years... pursued like its owner who refused silence at the expense of truth, his homeland, and reality? So he sacrificed his position and comfortable life and spoke out now despite being an unjust sultan... so his fate was exile and fleeing from pursuit and finally surrendering himself to serve a prison sentence instead of being honored for a war everyone testified was a military miracle with facts, not words and rhetorical phrases... But does this book deserve all that? Yes... because it exposes all the lies that Sadat spread and tried to hide about the October War, as "Field Marshal Saad Al-Din Al-Shazly" clarified and answered in it pivotal and decisive questions about that war, indeed about the Arab-Israeli conflict. The field marshal says about his book in the introduction of its first edition: "Although many books have been published about the October 1973 war between Arabs and Israel, there are still many hidden facts that no one has addressed to this day, and some facts have been distorted by some, sometimes out of ignorance, and other times out of deliberate errors to conceal these facts. Among the topics still ambiguous are the following questions: Why didn't the Egyptian forces develop their attack eastward after successfully crossing the Suez Canal? And why didn't they seize the straits in Sinai? Was it really the general command of the Egyptian armed forces' perception that the Dufresne area would be breached, and that they prepared the necessary plan to counter this breach if it occurred? And if this was true, why didn't the Egyptians eliminate the breach immediately after it happened? How did the enemy's breach in the Dufresne area develop day after day, and how were the plans made by the military contradicted by the president and the Minister of War? Who is responsible for the siege of the Third Army? Are the military commanders or the political leaders? How did the siege of the Third Army affect the war's results politically and militarily, not only for Egypt but for the entire Arab world? When I decided to start writing my memoirs in October 76—three years after the October 73 war—was my goal to expose Sadat's lies which he fabricated recklessly after the war ended? No, my primary goal was to give a true picture of the glorious and honorable deeds carried out by the Egyptian soldier in this war. It is truly unfortunate that Sadat and his men could not present this war in the frame it deserves as one of the most remarkable military works in the world. They relied on rhetorical and flowery words without using numbers and scientific analysis of the surrounding factors. Their concern was limited to hiding and erasing the role of "Field Marshal Saad Al-Din Al-Shazly," who served as Chief of Staff of the Egyptian Armed Forces from May 1971—29 months before the war—and until December 12, 1973—seven weeks after the ceasefire. Sadat did not realize that his hatred for Field Marshal Saad Al-Din Al-Shazly greatly harmed the Egyptian armed forces. Al-Shazly was not lying; the book is a testimony that casts falsehood aside and hits it fatally despite all the authority, media, and everyone who tried to hide the truth from the Egyptian, Arab, and world people. But after these years and restrictions, the truth emerged from its summit, breaking the chains and restrictions from the Egyptian people, and time has spoken. The book became free and unbound, and its jailers became humble in their lives and deaths. Let us see in the story of this book and what was written in its lines a lesson of the days about lies, liars, the greatness of the Egyptian soldier, his genius, and his resilience... as a soldier and leader." (Excerpt from "More Than a Life" blog) Fourth edition, Year of publication: 2011 Cover type: paperback Size: 24 × 17