After DESERT STORM: The U.S. Army and the Reconstruction of Kuwait records the U.S. Army's pivotal nation-building role in a post-hostilities environment in Kuwait. Janet A. McDonnell, taking both a topical and chronological approach to a complex story of the largest civil-military recovery operation since World War II, chronicles how both soldiers and civilians, working alongside Kuwaiti volunteers, helped to bring a proud but battered Kuwait and its infrastructure back to life within nine months. To capitalize fully on battlefield success today, military leaders must also plan carefully for similar recovery missions. There is much to learn in this fine thought-provoking account.