Tab Article

Ratings: ★★★★☆ (4.3/5)
Genre: Military History, Middle East History, True War Story, Espionage

Book Review:
''Two Minutes Over Baghdad'' is a gripping and meticulously researched account of one of the most audacious military operations of the 20th century. This book tells the true story of ''Operation Babylon,'' Israel's daring 1981 airstrike on Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor.

The authors—Amos Perlmutter, Michael Handel, and Uri Bar-Joseph—take the reader behind the scenes of this high-stakes drama. They detail the intelligence gathering, the political agony, and the incredible skill of the Israeli pilots who flew F-15 and F-16 aircraft over hundreds of miles of enemy territory to destroy the reactor in just two minutes.

As the book chillingly states, quoting Israeli Chief-of-Staff Rafael Eitan: ''If the Iraqis get the bomb, it will be as though all the countries in this region are hanging from a light sewing thread, high above. Any attempt to use the bomb will lead immediately to the tearing of that thread...''

This is a must-read for anyone interested in military history, the Middle East conflict, or high-stakes espionage. It reads like a thriller, but every page is grounded in the tense reality of the nuclear age. A fascinating and important book.