Why read Nasser's Gamble?

Book cover of Nasser's Gamble: How Intervention in Yemen Caused the Six-Day War and the Decline of Egyptian Power

Book description

Nasser's Gamble draws on declassified documents from six countries and original material in Arabic, German, Hebrew, and Russian to present a new understanding of Egypt's disastrous five-year intervention in Yemen, which Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser later referred to as "my Vietnam." Jesse Ferris argues that Nasser's attempt to export…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Nasser's Gamble as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Ethan Chorin

Author

Nasser's Gamble is an accessible, fluid articulation of Egypt's disastrous pro-Republican war in Yemen in the 1960s, and the thesis that the resources devoted to it (and lack of foresight) dramatically impacted Egypt's performance in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. Not overly academic, and syntheses several other studies, with original archival research. A (somewhat) new take on a critical, and not popularly known piece of Middle East history.

From Ethan's 3 favorite reads in 2024.