Small Wars: a wide reading list
Moderator's Note
Today I merged four other threads into this thread, which is one of the first ever threads (OK 75th). There are a number of similar reading lists (my search term today) which are more specialist: amphibious operations, advisers and the elusive General Mattis reading list. I am sure other lists exist, e.g. Searching for first hand accounts of UW:http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...ead.php?t=4613 (ends).
What are you reading in regards to Small Wars? It doesn't necessarily have to be a narrow list focusing on Small Wars either, feel free to list anything that might bring more applicable knowledge to warfare.
The Elaine Grossman book list is good a place to start.
Some of the following authors are mentioned in the above list.
Ralph Peter's essays and books.
Chapter Ten in Colin Gray's 'Modern Strategy' covers Small War theory and practice.
Thomas X. Hammes 'The Sling and The Stone'.
H. John Poole's works.
Max Boot's 'The Savage Wars of Peace'.
'The Geography of Thought' by Richard Nisbett covers the Social psychological differences between Asian and Western thinking.
India's version of Machiavelli: Kautilya's Arthasastra.
See my post on reference listings
See my post on Military History.
I am a fan of both Les Grau and Tim Thomas. Both offer truly valuable insights into the cultural manifestations in the small wars of the USSR and now Russia.
For Latino and Caribbean basin watchers, look at the work Larry Yates did for CSI on the DomRep and Panama.
Somalia see Larry Yates and Bon Baumann, again CSI.
On the Middle East, George Gawrych at CSI. George (now at Baylor) and I team taught Middle East military history in the mid-1980s.
Scott McMichael's study on light infantry covers Malaysia and is excellent, again CSI.
On Africa, I have 2 books on the Congo on the CSI site: LP14 on the Dragon Operations in the Congo in 1964; and a study on the Shaba II War in Zaire in 1978. Dave Dillegge will be loading a chapter from my memoirs, Journey into Darkness: Genocide in Rwanda, here next month.
You can also find some classics like TE Lawrence and Duffer's Drift on the CSI site.
A 2013 working link:http://regimentalrogue.tripod.com/du...fers_Drift.htm
Ralph Peters should stick to fiction. His analysis is unbalanced to say the least.
Best
Tom Odom
Events staging small wars
Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, John Perkins
Quote:
Perkins writes that his economic projections cooked the books Enron-style to convince foreign governments to accept billions of dollars of loans from the World Bank and other institutions to build dams, airports, electric grids, and other infrastructure he knew they couldn't afford. The loans were given on condition that construction and engineering contracts went to U.S. companies. Often, the money would simply be transferred from one bank account in Washington, D.C., to another one in New York or San Francisco. The deals were smoothed over with bribes for foreign officials, but it was the taxpayers in the foreign countries who had to pay back the loans. When their governments couldn't do so, as was often the case, the U.S. or its henchmen at the World Bank or International Monetary Fund would step in and essentially place the country in trusteeship, dictating everything from its spending budget to security agreements and even its United Nations votes. It was, Perkins writes, a clever way for the U.S. to expand its "empire" at the expense of Third World citizens. While at times he seems a little overly focused on conspiracies, perhaps that's not surprising considering the life he's led.
I don't buy into his 'bleeding heart' crap though.
Another Couple of Possibles
Not a Good Day to Die by Sean Naylor.
The Secret War Against Hanoi by Richard Schultz.
The first covers Operation Anaconda and provides some interesting insights into how that operation was planned and indeed micromanaged by Franks and others.
The second deals with SOG during the Vietnam War. Very illuminating when dealing with the strengths and weaknesses of special operations.
Just finished, halfway done, up next.....
This may or may not be of great interest to the list, but hey, it's what I'm reading...
Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge by Edward O. Wilson -
Superb premise and better survey of the principles of the sciences and humanities. Indirectly useful if you are heavy into mil theory.
The Third Reich in Power by Richard J. Evans
A masterpiece study of Nazi Germany, second volume in a trilogy. Emphasis on the Nazi " coordination" of German life and Hitler's policies up until WWII
Up next:
Global Brain by Howard Bloom
Two New Titles for SWJ Reading List
I highly recommend two titles that do not appear on the SWJ reading list currently. The first, The Jungle is Neutral was written by Spencer Chapman, DSO, about his experiences waging guerilla warfare against the Japanese in Malaya during WWII. The Second is My Reminiscences of East Africa by Col. Paul von Lettow-Vorbek. Vorbek waged a four-year campaign against British and S. Africa forces during WWI, without resupply.
Pre-Masters Program Reading List
Ladies and Gentlemen,
As I approach the end of undergrad I am settling on going onto higher levels of education and focusing on National Security and especially terrorism/revolution/small wars and intelligence (as at this moment my long term, hoped for, goal is to join the intelligence community).
As I have about a year before I begin grad school, always keeping my fingers crossed that I get into one :o ! I have time to do some reading. So I have compiled a reading list of books that I find interesting (you might notice it's based mostly on posts here at SWJ, go search function!)
I would like to solicit opinions of my list. I am missing anything? Should I take anything out? Maybe there is theme or certain time period that I am missing? etc, etc...
Also I know I am missing some history books. For example I recently read "Street Without Joy" and ” The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia." So any suggestions of that type of book would be great.
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Social Movements and Organization Theory (Cambridge Studies in Contentious Politics) by Gerald F. Davis
The Unthinkable Revolution in Iran by Charles Kurzman
States and Social Revolutions: A Comparative Analysis of France, Russia and China by Theda Skocpol
The Anatomy of Revolution by Clarence Crane Brinton, Crane Brinton
THINKING LIKE A TERRORIST: Insights of a Former FBI Undercover Agent by Mike German
The Al Qaeda Reader by Raymond Ibrahim (Editor)
U.S. Army Counterinsurgency and Contingency Operations Doctrine, 1942-1976 (Paperbound) by A. J. Birtle
US Army Counterinsurgency and Contingency Operations Doctrine, 1860-1941 by Andrew J. Birtle (Author)
The Village by Francis J. West
The Savage Wars Of Peace: Small Wars And The Rise Of American Power by Max Boot
Soldier Sahibs: The Daring Adventurers Who Tamed India's Northwest Frontier by Charles Allen
From Pablo to Osama: Trafficking and Terrorist Networks, Government Bureaucracies, and Competitive Adaptation by Michael Kenney
Counterinsurgency in Modern Warfare (Companion) by Daniel Marston (Editor), Carter Malkasian (Editor)
The Insurgent Archipelago (Columbia/Hurst) by John Mackinlay
Inside Rebellion: The Politics of Insurgent Violence (Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics) by Jeremy M. Weinstein
What Makes a Terrorist: Economics and the Roots of Terrorism (Lionel Robbins Lectures) by Alan B. Krueger
On Violence (Harvest Book) by Hannah Arendt
On Revolution (Penguin Classics) by Hannah Arendt
War of the Flea: The Classic Study of Guerrilla Warfare by Robert Taber
The Logic of Violence in Civil War (Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics) by Stathis N. Kalyvas
Modern Insurgencies and Counter-Insurgencies: Guerrillas and their Opponents since 1750 (Warfare and History) by I. F. W. Beckett
Insurgency, Terrorism, and Crime: Shadows from the Past and Portents for the Future (International and Security Affairs) by Max G. Manwaring
Contra Cross: Insurgency And Tyranny in Central America, 1979-1989 by William R. Meara
Structured Analytic Techniques for Intelligence Analysis by Richards J. Heuer
Intelligence Analysis: A Target-Centric Approach, 3rd Edition by Robert M. Clark
Intelligence Essentials for Everyone by Lisa Krizan (Author)
The Craft of Intelligence by Allen Welsh Dulles, Allen Dulles
Insurgency and Counter-Insurgency in Iraq by Ahmed Hashim
The Afghanistan-Pakistan Theater: Militant Islam, Security & Stability by Hassan Abbas
Decoding the New Taliban: Insights from the Afghan Field (Columbia/Hurst) by Antonio Giustozzi (Editor)
Terror in the Name of God: Why Religious Militants Kill by Jessica Stern
Suicide Bombers in Iraq: The Strategy and Ideology of Martyrdom by Mohammed M. Hafez
Modern Warfare: A French View of Counterinsurgency (PSI Classics of the Counterinsurgency Era) by Roger Trinquier
Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism by Robert Anthony Pape
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Thanks
Online Articles > Hardcopy Books, and addendum
In the spirit of Tequila noting that Kalyvas has research papers online, I'd suggest that, if you have access to them, you download papers that were published prior to books. Two examples:
Paper, "Strategic Logic," was published in the American Political Science Review.
Kenney, "Osama to Bin Laden" was published in Survival.
You might well be able to get the gist of the books by reading the articles, and save yourself some time.
In terms of history, what about "The Generals' War" (Gordon and Trainor on the Gulf War) and Atkinson's Liberation Trilogy (currently at two books)?
Bard O'Neill's "Insurgency and Terrorism" is an extraordinarily well-written book, particularly given it's a handbook that, in some ways, lacks a thesis.
I think Rosen's "Winning the Next War," about military innovation, is a great book.
If you aim to go into intelligence, both Intelligence and National Security, and, despite its pulp-sounding title, International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence are both very solid journals, as are the Journal of Strategic Studies and Security Studies, in addition to International Security; World Politics and International Organization also publish security-oriented articles on occasion, as well as international and comparative politics more generally. If comparative politics is your thing - and if you're trying for a regional focus in the intelligence community - you might want to check out Comparative Politics and Comparative Political Studies.
"A Behavioral Theory of the Firm" and "Essence of Decision" are both nice works on organizational behavior - you can skip the case study chapters on the Cuban Missile Crisis if you're so inclined with respect to the latter.
Finally, as both history, literature (somewhat), and a primer on PC-COIN circa 1960, "The Ugly American" is hard to beat.
Again, though, you've got a very long reading list - above all else, I'd see if you can find article versions of the books to spare yourself reading that you really don't need.
Regards
OC
PS - Apologies in advance if I listed works you've already listed.