Invisible Armies: An Epic History of Guerrilla Warfare from Ancient Times to the PresentAs fitting for the twenty-first century as von Clausewitz’s On War was in its own time, Invisible Armies is a complete global history of guerrilla uprisings through the ages. Beginning with the first insurgencies in the ancient world—when Alexander the Great discovered that fleet nomads were harder to defeat than massive conventional armies—Max Boot, best-selling author and military advisor in Iraq and Afghanistan, masterfully guides us from the Jewish rebellion against the Roman Empire up through the horrors of the French-Indochina War and the shadowy, post-9/11 battlefields of today. Relying on a diverse cast of unforgettable characters—not only Mao and Che but also the legendary Italian nationalist Giuseppe Garibaldi, the archaeologist-turned–military commander T. E. Lawrence, and the “Quiet American” Edward Lansdale, among others—Boot explodes everything we thought we knew about unconventional combat. The result is both an enthralling read and our most important work on nontraditional warfare. |
Contents
CLASSICAL CONFLICTS | 4 |
AKKAD AND THE ORIGINS OF INSURGENCY | 13 |
CREATE A DESERT | 19 |
THE GUERRILLA PARADOX | 41 |
WAR BY THE BOOK | 52 |
IRREGULARS IN THE AGE OF REASON | 59 |
WAR TO THE KNIFE | 80 |
BLACK SPARTACUS | 92 |
THE REGULAR IRREGULARS | 288 |
RESISTANCE AND COLLABORATION | 306 |
ASSESSING THE SUPERSOLDIERS 53 | 313 |
THE END OF EMPIRE | 319 |
THE RISE OF THE RED EMPEROR | 328 |
ADIEU AT DIEN BIEN PHU | 347 |
CONVINCE OR COERCE | 364 |
A MAN AND A PLAN | 378 |
GREEKS AND THEIR LOVERS | 101 |
HERO OF TWO WORLDS | 109 |
REVOLUTIONARY CONSEQUENCES | 122 |
THE SKULKING WAY OF WAR | 132 |
THE WINNING OF THE WEST | 141 |
THE WINNING OF THE EAST | 154 |
DARK DEFILES | 164 |
NORTHWEST FRONTIER | 172 |
COMMANDOS | 184 |
HIGH NOON FOR EMPIRE | 198 |
SUICIDE KNIFERS | 205 |
JOHN BROWNS BODY | 211 |
THE DESTRUCTION OF RECONSTRUCTION | 218 |
PROPAGANDA BY THE DEED | 226 |
HUNTING THE TSAR | 235 |
SHINNERS AND PEELERS | 246 |
THE TERRORIST MIND | 260 |
Guerrillas and Commandos in the World Wars | 267 |
THE EVOLUTION OF AN ARCHAEOLOGIST | 274 |
A DISTINCTLY BRITISH APPROACH? | 389 |
BOOK VII | 395 |
CREATING SOUTH VIETNAM | 407 |
THE OTHER WAR | 413 |
FOCO OR LOCO? | 440 |
THE CHILDREN OF 68AND 48 | 450 |
ARAFATS ODYSSEY | 460 |
LEFT OUT OR REBELS WITHOUT A CAUSE | 475 |
FIFTY DAYS THAT SHOOK THE WORLD | 481 |
THE A TEAM | 501 |
THE TERRORIST INTERNATIONALE | 515 |
CARNAGE IN MESOPOTAMIA | 529 |
COUNTERINSURGENCY REDISCOVERED | 535 |
DOWN AND OUT? | 547 |
THE INVISIBLE ARMIES DATABASE | 569 |
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS | 591 |
BIBLIOGRAPHY | 643 |
| 709 | |
Other editions - View all
Invisible Armies: An Epic History of Guerrilla Warfare from Ancient Times to ... Max Boot Limited preview - 2013 |
Invisible Armies: An Epic History Of Guerrilla Warfare From Ancient Times To ... Max Boot No preview available - 2013 |
Invisible Armies: An Epic History of Guerrilla Warfare from Ancient Times to ... Max Boot No preview available - 2013 |
Common terms and phrases
Afghan Afghanistan Al Qaeda Algeria allies American anarchists Arab Arafat armed Assassins attacks battle became Black Boer bomb British camp campaign Castro casualties century Chechnya China Chindits Chinese civil civilians colonial commander Communist conflict counterinsurgency David Petraeus death defeat Empire enemy European fighters fighting fire forces fought France French Garibaldi Giap groups guerrilla warfare Guevara Hezbollah History hundred Indians Indochina insurgents Iraq Irish irregular Israel Israeli killed Laden Lansdale later Lawrence leaders Lebanon liberal London Lyautey Malaya Mao Zedong Mao’s March military Muslim nationalist nomads North officer Ongoing operations Osama bin Laden Ottoman Palestinian Pashtuns People’s percent Petraeus police political population Qaeda raids rebels Red Army regime resistance Revolution revolutionary Roman Russian soldiers South South Vietnam Soviet Spain successful T. E. Lawrence tactics Templer terrorism terrorist thousand tion troops United University Press uprising victory Vietminh Vietnam Wars weapons Wingate World wounded wrote Xiongnu York