Coup D'état Oman Kindle Edition

I was a 23 year old RAF RADAR Junior Technician in Salalah during and after the coup. I knew first hand many of the details, seeing them bring out the munitions and equipment out from the Palace the morning after the coup. However, this account filled in many of the gaps in my understanding of this pivotal piece of history. I was mainly interested in the portion of the book that covered Oman, but the book as a whole was well written, enjoyable and informative. It held my attention and took me back to a time that was very formative in my life. The personal background interwoven in the detailed history of those times connected with me and made it even more real. For those interested in this region and this historic period will find the book a joy to read. Coup D'état Oman

What a story, in to to date modern age. I salute him hole heartily! Was a trooper to be alive to day.

This is a fantastic read. I was hooked from the first page, and found myself eagerly reading page after page, keen to find out what happens. Vivid descriptions and interesting characters - you can really tell the author has experience of what war and combat are really like. A visceral, realistic story, with plenty of excitement and a cracking story - I would recommend this book to anyone.

No sense of ego just a really good read. Having spent 3 years in the Sultan's Airforce many years ago, Ray's description of the countryside brings back wonderful memories.

This is an astonishing account of one of the most historical events, and turning point, in the history of Oman. I served there for a year in 1965, and for the past few days I've literally been transported back there from the safety of my armchair. The picture of Al-Husn palace is still vivid in my mind as I delivered many letters to the Sultan and remember thinking how safe he is behind those huge wooden doors. How wrong would I be. Thanks to the bavery of the author Ray Kane and his men, this despotic monarch would now be removed to allow his son Qaboos bin Said to transform this great country to the position it holds today in the Middle East. A truly wonderfully written book which I thoroughly enjoyed and recommend to anyone who wishes to know the truth about the 'Secret War' in Dhofar.

Ray Kane tells the precise story of the Coup which replaced Sultan Said bin Taimur, with his son, Qaboos - he was there. It is clear that this one act led directly to the defeat of the Insurgents and establishment of the forward looking state that is modern Oman. It recounts a turning point in Omani history, which may have long term effects on the whole the Arabian peninsula. A great read with plenty of humour and above all an accurate historical recordThe book also manages skillfully to capture how wonderful it was to be a young officer released from the shackles and monotony of serving in Western Europe under the gaze of the military establishment. It decribes in detail what is was like to be on operations in Dhofar before the accession of Sultan Qaboos. Initially poorly equiped and at a disadvantage on the ground, they punched above their weight against a real and determined enemy. The new Sultan changed all that and invested heavily and soon this was beginning to tell, especially when the Dhofari Insurgents began to change sides and to see what the new Oman would offer. The war was over five year later.

I have enjoyed reading this book. It takes a special kind of person to join the forces to serve one's country, but Ray was a survivor of the brutality of the Catholic education system in Eire, and his sense of adventure and dislike of the mundane took him into the British forces, like many of his compatriots. But it takes someone extra special to volunteer to fight a real war in a remote land for someone else. Ray's involvement in a pivotal moment in history tells the story others have hinted at. Today we hear more about Combat Stress than was recognised in the past, and these experiences change a man in ways hard for the women in his life to understand. Reading this and other accounts gives an insight to us, into how these guys lived lives constantly on the edge, adrenalin (and testosterone) fuelled, reacting to the slightest change in their environment. Who said men can't multi task! Ray's independent mind knew when to disobey orders, when not to open fire because of the prospect of killing or maiming innocent women and children, a commendable trait not seen in other parts of the Middle East today! I loved the fact that he could have gone into the Palace with all guns blazing, but chose instead to knock on the front door! The old Sultan deposed his own Father and long live the new, wise Sultan Qaboos who has brought his country out of a despotic existence unchanged since Biblical times into a beautiful first world country of the 21st century! Ray and others played their part in that history ! I salute you!

The book is extremely interesting account of an important period of the Dhofar war in addition to its vivid, accurate and detailed account of the coup against Sultan Said Bin Taimur, arguably one of the most important parts of the Dhofar war. As a result, the book provides an extremely insightful yet fresh account of the Dhofar war from an operational and tactical perspective and is well worth reading.

Ray Kane's lively and highly readable account of the Dhofar War, and the Coup in particular, successfully captures the life of a young infantry officer who was caught up in the major events in Oman in the early 70s. The author manages to convey the excitement, danger and hardships he experienced over a long period of active service and his description of the realities of jebel warfare would be hard to beat.History will thank him for providing a detailed and accurate account of the Coup which transformed the political, military and economic situation in Oman, especially in the light of recent but much more controversial UK interventions in the Middle East.