''Into the Storm'' (1997) is

Tom Clancy Thomas Leo Clancy Jr. (April 12, 1947 – October 1, 2013) was an American novelist. He is best known for his technically detailed espionage and military science, military-science storylines set during and after the Cold War. Seventeen of ...

's first book in his study of

command Command may refer to: Computing * Command (computing), a statement in a computer language * command (Unix), a Unix command * COMMAND.COM, the default operating system shell and command-line interpreter for DOS * Command key, a modifier key on A ...

series. Clancy traces the organizational success story of the U.S. Army's rise since the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. It is also a partial biography of General Frederick M. Franks, Jr., who is considered to be a military visionary and a distinguished combat commander, famous for having led the

Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

coalition A coalition is formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political, military, or economic spaces. Formation According to ''A G ...

VII Corps 7th Corps, Seventh Corps, or VII Corps may refer to: * VII Corps (Grande Armée), a corps of the Imperial French army during the Napoleonic Wars * VII Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Army prior to and during World War I * VII ...

in the highly successful "Left Hook" maneuver against fourteen Iraqi divisions of the

Iraqi Republican Guard The Iraqi Republican Guard () was a branch of the Iraqi military from 1969 to 2003, which existed primarily during the presidency of Saddam Hussein. Initially a praetorian guard unit tasked with the sole purpose to protect the president of ...

, forcing a retreat with fewer than 100 American casualties lost to enemy action — a feat unmatched in modern warfare. The book also describes the transformation of the U.S. Army, traumatized by the

, and Franks' devastating loss of a leg in that war. Franks became the first amputee active-duty general since the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. The book is mostly written by Tom Clancy with sections where he uses General Franks' own words.

External links

''Booknotes'' interview with Clancy and Franks on ''Into the Storm'', July 13, 1997

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Books by Tom Clancy 1997 non-fiction books G. P. Putnam's Sons books Non-fiction books about the United States Army {{US-mil-hist-book-stub