The October 1973 Middle East War transformed the region's politics and had a huge impact on the international political system as a whole. Arguments about the causes, effects, and meaning of the war and about why it ran its course the way it did have played a key role in shaping the understanding of the Arab-Israeli conflict, of American policy in the Middle East, and of many other major issues. For the 50th anniversary of the war, this book grapples with these issues in an objective way by using the mass of declassified material that has recently become available.