"In the aftermath of Vietnam a new generation of Marines was determined to wage a smarter kind of war. The tank, the very symbol of brute power and violence, would play a key role in a new concept of maneuver warfare. The emphasis would be not on savage battles of attrition, but on the concept of "combined arms and ability to resist by rapid maneuver and judicious but overwhelming use of firepower. Yet in two wars with Iraq the takers, as well as the crews of the new Light Armored Vehicles, quickly found themselves back in a familiar role -- battering through some of the strongest defenses in the world by frontal assault, fighting their way through towns and cities. In America's longest continual conflict the armored Marines quickly transitioned to another familiar role: counter-insurgency warfare in the broiling deserts, ancient cities, and rich farmlands of Iraq, and in the high, bleak wastes of Afghanistan. It was an all-too familiar kind of war against a fanatical foe who brutalized civilians, planted sophisticated roadside bombs, and seized control of entire cities. It was a maddening but familiar war of clearing roads, escorting convoys, endless sweep operations to locate and destroy insurgent strongholds, protecting voting sites for free elections, and recapturing and rebuilding urban centers. It was a war in which the tanks repeatedly provided the outnumbered infantry with precise and decisive firepower. The tankers even added a new trick to their repertoire - long ranged surveillance, working with snipers and reconnaissance Marines. Author Gillbert, with his years of personal experience, research, and firsthand interviews with tank crewmen themselves, plus their supports, unveils the Marine Corps' most recent armored combats in unprecedented detail. The brief war against Iraq in 1991 and the wars of the post-9/11 years demanded that unique combination of ferocity and compassion, dash and tenacity, professionalism, and versatility that makes a Marine no better friend, and no worse enemy."--- from book jacket.

A brutally complex world -- Operation Desert Shield -- The storm breaks -- Intervallum -- Into Iraq -- Bridges in the desert : An-Nasiriyah -- The low road to Baghdad -- The prize -- Return to Iraq -- Tipping point : the second battle of Fallujah -- Harrying the insurgency -- Afghanistan : winding down.