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Road to Baghdad: Behind Enemy Lines: The Adventures of an American Soldier in the Gulf War | 
 enlarge | Author: Martin Stanton
Publisher: Presidio Press
Category: Book
List Price: $6.99
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Rating:  6 reviews
Sales Rank: 1099011
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 384
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 6.9 x 4.2 x 1.1
ISBN: 0891418466
Dewey Decimal Number: 355
EAN: 9780891418467
ASIN: 0891418466
Publication Date: April 27, 2004
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Product Description
In 1990, U.S. Army Major Martin Stanton was a military advisor stationed in Saudi Arabia. Encouraged by the Army to broaden his cultural horizons, and assured by the U.S. embassy that Kuwait was perfectly safe, Stanton took off for a long weekend there. Roused by gunshots his first night in Kuwait City, Stanton looked out the window and discovered he was in the middle of a full-scale invasion.
Iraq’s Gulf War had begun—and in the Kuwait City Sheraton, overlooking the entire western part of town, the United States had inadvertabtly encouraged an Army officer to go "behing enemy lines". As fighting continued and bullets hit the hotel’s facade, Stanton began phoning in intelligence reports to his superiors. He noted the arrival of the first tanks and their strategic deployment—to places with the most shade—as well as the Sheraton’s transition from hotel to Iraqi military headquarters. From the top floor of the hotel, Stanton would scour the surrounding streets with his binoculars, then descend to the lobby, where he’d lounge around the door of the Iraqi command post’s map room—conveniently converted from the Sheraton’s conference room—gleaning what he could and reporting back intelligence. Without a doubt, the Pentagon had unwittingly scored a major coup.
Yet Stanton’s prime “position” was short lived. Rounded up by the enemy, he would spend the next four months in Iraq as one of Saddam’s “guests”— also known as human shields—as the western “hostages” were shifted among various strategic facilities: chemical weapons factories, oil refineries, and power plants. Despite his dire circumstance, Stanton nevertheless strove at all times to do his duty to the best of his ability by continually taking notes and looking for ways to smuggle out information. In his role as a roving human shield, Stanton saw more of Iraq than he ever wanted to. Fortunately, he was released in time to fight the Gulf War with his Saudi unit.
With the same insight and intelligence evident in his first book, Somalia on $5 a Day, Martin Stanton has produced another fascinating account that offers readers a rare glimpse of a different time in the Middle East, when Saddam Hussein was at the height of his power and ambition, and when the U.S. was simply trying to repel an invader.
From the Hardcover edition.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 1 more reviews...
 Inspiring, timely and true May 30, 2003
Ralph H. Peters (Washington, D.C. area)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
Truth really can be stranger than fiction--and better reading, as well. Colonel Stanton's very impressive, highly readable memoir of his extraordinary adventures prior to and during the first Gulf War is a remarkable book--both for its ability to capture the inventive nature and casual courage of our finest military officers and for its ability to tell a thrilling personal story in a way that is neither bragging (too often a fault with first-person accounts) or pretentious. Stanton has the gift of telling a story straight and letting events speak for themselves. His experiences when stranded in Kuwait City during the opening phase of Iraq's invasion--when he kept an open line to U.S. authorities for days and reported directly from the Iraqi headquarters in his hotel--might have made a fine story in themselves, while revealing much about the Iraqi military's hidden weaknesses. His follow-on adventures as a prisoner-of-not-quite-war, absolutely true and corroborated, are better than the stuff of classic adventure novels. And he made it back to friendly lines in time to fight Desert Storm. This is a splendid military tale, well-told, of adventures that rival the great old military narratives from the Middle East, whether of Gordon Pasha, Lawrence or Wingate. And it's enormous fun to read, while making it very clear how we were able to defeat the Iraqis so handily. As this review is written, Colonel Stanton, whom I am privileged to have met as a consequence of my own military service, has served on the ground in our second Iraq war and is now in Baghdad, working on the reconstruction of Iraq. He's a soldier's soldier--and a superb storyteller. This book could not be more timely. The next time you feel the impulse to pick up a fictional thriller, skip it and read Stanton's book. It's more exciting--and it's true. Destined to become a modern military classic!
 Former eye witness to the Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait July 13, 2003
FRED L. HART JR (APO, AE United States)
4 out of 19 found this review helpful
I found Stanton's book as a self-serving promotion of an Army officer who did something stupid and in violation of the current US CENTRAL COMMAND policy and in violation of State Department travel warnings issued weeks before the invasion. Granted as an Army officer also present during the invasion there is no doubt that his two days of observation were interesting but hardly of any strategic value. Two days in the Sheraton and then a human sheild is all very good, and makes a good story for an officer who knowingly entered a country purely for self gain. The books reflects how a individual who has used a circumstance to self promote himself. As any military value is highly questionalbe and not worth the read.
COL FRED HART
FORMER HOSTAGE AT THE AMERICAN EMBASSIES IN KUWAIT AND BAGHDAD AUG 1990-DEC 1990.
First Hand Account of a Unique Experience July 18, 2003
J. Good (Orlando, FL USA)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Marty Stanton has the ability to spin a fascinating story. Before the first Gulf War, he was assigned to a one of a kind military organization, quite unlike anything which most career soldiers will ever experience. The opportunities that assignment gave him for travel and interaction with the locals, lead to a unique perspective on that period of history. Coupling his rare view of events with his sense of humor, he has used his gift for writing to produce an accurate account of events which is fun and easy to read. Most soldiers never have the opportunity to find themselves in the sort of situations that Stanton writes about. Using plain language that takes you along with him on the adventure of a lifetime, this book is a must for anyone going on an assignment as a military advisor or observer. A good read for anyone interested in history, the military, or life in the Middle East.
Should've Been Advised of His Rights Against... April 23, 2005
Strap (Georgia)
2 out of 8 found this review helpful
Self-incrimination.
COL Hart's review below is spot-on.
To a civilian reader unfamiliar with military law, good order and discipline, and professional conduct of an Army officer, this book will appear to be exactly as other reviewers have described it...a well-told, entertaining adventure story. However, the truth of the tale appears to be that the author acted with willful disregard to Army regulations and in a reckless manner, which ultimately led to his detection and capture, thus negating whatever tactical usefulness his presence served during the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.
Very much an enlightening read February 25, 2004
I will not write a detailed review, suffice to say I agree with the other 5-star ratings already written and highly recommend this book. Very well written and keeps your interest throughout. I enjoyed the narrative from cover to cover and it gave a great insight into the "mentality" of the middle east and what we continue to be up against in that region (with friend and foe). I'm glad he was able to survive, put it together in a book and not be just another untold story.
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