- List of Maps*
- Preface
- Abbreviations
- 1. Escalation
- 2. Saddam’s Qadisiyyah
- 3. How Did It Come to This?
- 4. Did the United States Push Saddam to Attack?
- 5. France Sides with Iraq
- 6. The Arabs Divided
- 7. Israel Banks on Iran and Turkey Benefits from the War
- 8. The “Valmy” Effect
- 9. Stalemate
- 10. The Initiative Changes Sides
- 11. The Mullahs Take Power
- 12. First Victories
- 13. New Mediation
- 14. The Iranians Recapture Their Territory
- 15. Blessed Ramadan Offensive
- 16. Bloody Dawns
- 17. Saddam’s Ace in the Hole
- 18. The Lebanese Hostage Crisis
- 19. Money Has No Smell
- 20. Total War
- 21. The Year of the Pilot
- 22. Oil and the War Machine
- 23. The Slaughter of the Child Soldiers
- 24. Deadlock
- 25. The Iran–Contra Affair
- 26. All-Out Offensives
- 27. Iran Changes Strategy
- 28. The Gulf Set Ablaze
- 29. The Halabja Massacre
- 30. The Destruction of Iran Air Flight 655
- 31. Endgame
- Epilogue
- Appendixes
- A. Chronology
- B. Iraq and Iran in 1980
- C. Military High Command
- D. Military Forces
- E. Armed Opposition
- F. Foreign Military Assistance
- G. Oil
- H. International Naval Presence in the Gulf
- I. War Losses
- J. Financial Cost
- Notes
- Sources
- Acknowledgments
- Index
- * Maps
- 1. Aerial forces present at the beginning of hostilities
- 2. Iraqi assault on the central front (September 22–October 1, 1980)
- 3. Iraqi assault on Khuzestan (September 22–October 1, 1980)
- 4. Fall of Khorramshahr and siege of Abadan (October 10–28, 1980)
- 5. Operation Morvarid (November 27–28, 1980)
- 6. The front in late December 1980
- 7. Operation Hoveyzeh (January 5–8, 1981)
- 8. Kurdish front in the spring of 1981
- 9. Iranian and Israeli air strikes on H-3 and Osirak
- 10. Iranian counteroffensives in Khuzestan in the fall of 1981
- 11. Iraqi oil network
- 12. Iranian Undeniable Victory offensive (March 21–30, 1982)
- 13. Iranian Holy City offensive (April 30–May 24, 1982)
- 14. Liberation of Khorramshahr (May 8–24, 1982)
- 15. Maritime exclusion zones decreed by the belligerents
- 16. Iranian offensives from July to November 1982
- 17. Iranian offensives in 1983
- 18. The first battle of the marshes (February 22–March 12, 1984)
- 19. Iranian Badr offensive (March 11–22, 1985)
- 20. Iran–Iraq front in 1985
- 21. The tanker war (1984–1985)
- 22. The Iranians capture al-Faw (February 9–March 11, 1986)
- 23. Iran–Iraq front in 1986
- 24. Iranian oil network
- 25. Mirage F-1 long-range strikes in the Persian Gulf (August–November 1986)
- 26. Battle of Basra (December 25, 1986–April 11, 1987)
- 27. Iran–Iraq front in 1987
- 28. Unrest in the Gulf in 1987
- 29. Operation Praying Mantis (April 18, 1988)
- 30. Iran–Iraq front in 1988