The Defense of Jisr al-Doreaa: With E. D. Swinton's "The Defence of Duffer's Drift"

THE DEFENCE OF DUFFER'S DRIFT has now inspired a third tale (that I'm aware of) which is included as the first half of this two-part volume. DUFFER'S DRIFT features Lieutenant N. Backsight Forethought who is left, along with his men and a scattering of equipment, to guard a key geographical location (Duffer's Drift) during the Boer War. The story is told in a series of dreams, where in each dream, he arrives on location and has to set up, prepare defenses, scout, react and hold out until relieved. He fails each time but learns a bit more and applies what he learns to each subsequent dream, until he succeeds at his task.THE DEFENSE OF JISR AL-DOREAA is a similar tale with applications on the U.S. Army's experience in Iraq. The book also mentions the second story (again, that I'm aware of) inspired by the original, THE DEFENSE OF HILL 781 by James R. McDonough, disparaging it as being no longer useful to today's Army. A mistake, I feel. The lessons of DUFFER's DRIFT can be applied to the large mechanized force scenario outlined in HILL 781 as easily as they can be applied to AL-DOREAA. McDonough's PLATOON LEADER is cited as a better work; but I'd argue that the lessons that McDonough learned that lead to the writing of Platoon Leader are seen as well in Hill 781.This is an excellent pairing of the old and the new. I'd recommend this, along with the two by McDonough and a third (RIFLEMAN DODD, C.S. Forester) by any officer candidate or NCO school-bound NCO as well as for any NCO or officer deploying overseas.

Ordered this book not knowing much about it other than it was COIN based. Finishing up my bachelor's degree and considering a masters in International Relations, my focus has been on COIN. This book, while not as in depth as Kilcullen's "Counterinsurgency" or "The Accidental Guerrilla" it illustrates examples of principles of COIN without being overtly analytical. Its a good read, a quick read, I finished this book in between reading Weber for school. If you'd like illustrative examples of small dilemma's in COIN and the realities faced for on the ground small unit commanders of COIN in Iraq this would be a good place to start. If you're a small unit commander, this would also be a good read, as our conflicts have tended to be more COIN related than anything else in the last 5 decades.

In 'The Defense of Jisr-Al-Doreaa' the authors - relatively junior yet experienced company-grade officers of the US Army - have sought to update the Boer War vintage  The Defence of Duffer's Drift  to reflect modern military operations. While the modern version doesn't quite match the wit and flair of the original (which is included as an annex), this is a quick and easy read that closely follows the format of the original and imparts useful lessons/reminders for junior readers ranging from fundamental leader responsibilities to basic COIN conduct. This modern day 'Duffers Drift' has considerable potential as a training tool and catalyst for professional discussion for junior leaders, and will be of potential interest to any laymen interested in the theoretical and broad responsibilities of a junior officer in a COIN or security operation.

Warning: For some reason, the publisher has forbidden the reader from overriding this ebook's default (serif) fonts.On the merits: IMO, this story was rather less enjoyable than Duffer's Drift (which I am not considering in this review, since it's in the public domain). I think this is due to both an excess of modern-military acronyms and the fact that this story's protagonist seems even dumber than the Duffer's Drift protagonist.

As a civilian with a less than firm grasp on the realities and practical aspects of warfare I found this book fascinating and informative. The historical perspective of the Boer War appendix shows both that not much has changed in 100 years....and a lot has changed. The authors give a quick glimpse into the professionalism and skills....and the incredible and varied demands made on our young officers. And you can read it in a couple of hours....and you will. Couple this with Kilcullen, John Nagl, Dexter Filkins and Bill Murphy's "In A Time of War" and you will have a small sense of the heroism, skill and intelligence, tragedy and hope that surround our modern serving soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines.

Bought this for preparation in pursuing a career as a military officer. The modern retelling of The Defense of Duffer's Drift really opened my eyes to some of the problems a platoon officer faces in warfare, especially in current conflicts. I learned a great deal from this book, some of which might save not only my life, but perhaps the lives of men that may be under my command.If you are serious about becoming a military officer, especially one geared towards an infantry role, give this book a read, or several reads!

The Author has done a sound job of adapting the orginal to a modern (though not necessarily different) conflict. The author covers off on considerations for operating within an asymmetric environment and presents it in a style that is easy to understand.As an Army Officer I would recommend this book to any young LT/NCO about to deploy to Afghanistan or similar theatre.

I knew one of the authors when he was a teenager. His family were our friends. The book was written in a unique way that would help new officers and new non-commissioned officers as well to prepare for the current day war in the middle east. Although written as fiction, the application of the book is an excellent training manual.It is enjoyable to read.

Loved it. An extremely well written contemporary approach to Duffer’s Drift. It goes to show that whilst tactics may change, principles are timeless.

Excellent read!

Definitely worth a read, a fascinating insight into the difficulties of Counter-Insurgency. This edition comprises BOTH the titular reworking of the original, setting it in a modern context AND the original Duffer's Drift on which the modern rework is based.Both are great and the Jisr Al-Doreaa in particular really brings home the "damned if you do and damned if you don't" nature of Counter-Insurgency, where one mis-step in any facet of the operation- military, hearts and minds or provision of future security- leads to a downward spiral of disaster.Our "hero" in each book is a young lieutenant charged with defence of a strategic river crossing. Each chapter describes his efforts and each describes his abject failure! However, fortunately for him, he is experiencing a Groundhog Day/ Edge of Tomorrow situation, so he can learn from his failures and adapt his methods in each chapter, until finally he achieves success.These lessons are presented in bite size chunks so as to be easier to digest, and I found I wanted to read on each time to see how our hero did with his new found insights. So, even though I am not the military school graduates this book is aimed at, I found it both educational AND entertaining.The only down side is that it is rather expensive for Kindle, especially as its not a very long book (even put together with the original Duffer's Drift).

Compared with Duffer's Drift, Jisr al-Doreaa came across rather shallow. The subject was excellent, modern and timely. The difficulty lies in the style of writing, which lacks the literary flair of Swinton's little book. The overabundance of military abbreviations is off-putting; while fine for modern officers and NCOs who use such jargon daily, the civilian historian doesn't, and struggles as a result. All in all it is a timely book on a valuable tactical subject, it's writing style needs to be tweaked.

Two books in one, the author's have brought Swinton's Duffer's Drift and re-written it for the modern conflicts (which bear more than a passing resemblance to the Boer War). Swinton's book is in the second half of the volume.The scenario is well set out, with appropriate maps and there is a good logical flow through the dream sequences where the young officer progressively learns from the situation. Although the situations and capabilities are not identical, you can easily compare the Boer War situation to its more modern counterpart about a century later. The lessons are broadly similar, and for those interested in how to train young officers or soldiers then it makes a worthwhile read.