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by N S Nash.
Hardback (6.5×9.5 inches). 248 pages. 2025.
My recollection of the Grenada action is the US defeated the Cuban troops and Communist local forces and restored the island to its democratic political system. My recollection is in need of better information. Fortunately, here’s just the book.
The political situation in Grenada is far more complex than communist insurgency and Cuban help. The slow march to dictatorship and the various coups eventually landed this island in US President Ronald Reagan’s crosshairs. He used the pretext of the safety of 600 US students at the medical school as the justification for intervention.
The real twist is that Grenada was an independent country that was part of the British Commonwealth. Think of the uproar should the UK invade Puerto Rico. In any case, a coup by Gairy in 1979 began the “rule by proclamation” and he was sideswiped by his Marxist sidekick Bishop and soon a 1983 coup by Courd essentially began a civil war in 1983. Hence the claim US students were in danger. The US secret operation was inadvertently revealed by CBS News in an Oct. 21, 1983 report that stated a US Navy evacuation was forthcoming.
The description of the clumsy and mistake-plagued operation to land troops and kick the Cubans off the island and restore democracy showed that the US military learned nothing from the ill-fated Iranian hostage rescue debacle. According to the book, US forces had no modern maps of the island, the part of the 82nd Airborne division assigned to the invasion was left without a logistical chain, and communications were a disaster. That’s just the start and it all makes for a fascinating read.
Unfortunately, a few typos, most minor, mar the book: “army in a state of rut and demoralization” (p24) is likely “rot”; “two Barbadans … the young man” (p43) should be “men”; “Plan 2360 … 2,360” (p67) is one or the other; and “see page xxx” (p70) lacks the actual number.
The book contains 54 black and white photos, two black and white illustrations, and 10 black and white maps.
In some ways, this serves as a checklist of pre-operation planning mistakes that led to actual operational problems. Or you can think of it as a primer on what commanders should be checking before engaging in a military operation. Either way, a fascinating book.
Enjoyed it.
— Reviewed by Russ Lockwood
