Insurgents, Raiders, and Bandits: How Masters of Irregular Warfare Have Shaped Our World

by John Arquilla

Overview

From the small bands of wilderness warriors who battled in 18th-century North America to the "Chechen Lion," and the contemporary conflict in Chechnya, John Arquilla chronicles the deadly careers of the greatest masters of irregular warfare over the past 250 years. Their impact on events has been profound, with irregulars playing crucial roles in such epochal struggles as the Anglo-French duel for North America, the defeat of Napoleon in Spain and Russia, the American Civil War, both world wars, and the current era of terrorism. Seeing the world through the eyes of guerrillas, raiders and bandits, Arquilla has written an alternative history that provides lessons for warfare in our time that must not be ignored.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781566639088
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	07/16/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	336
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

John Arquilla professor of defense analysis at the Naval Postgraduate School and the author of Worst Enemy: The Reluctant Transformation of the American Military, was recently named one of the world's Top 100 Thinkers by Foreign Policy magazine. He resides in Monterey, California.

Table of Contents

Preface
Acknowledgments
Maps
Chapter 1: War "Out of the Dark"
Chapter 2: Frontiersman: Robert Rogers
Chapter 3: Fighting Quaker: Nathanael Greene
Chapter 4: Guerrillero: Francisco Espoz y Mina
Chapter 5:Hussar Poet: Denis Davydov
Chapter 6: Desert Mystic: Abd el-Kader
Chapter 7: Nation Builder: Guiseppe Garibaldi
Chapter 8: Rebel Raider: Nathan Bedford Forrest
Chapter 9: Gray Fox: George Crook
Chapter 10:Veldt Rider: Christiaan de Wet
Chapter 11:Bush Fighter: Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck
Chapter 12: Emir Dynamite: T. E. Lawrence
Chapter 13: Long Ranger: Orde Wingate
Chapter 14: Undersea Wolf: Charles Lockwood
Chapter 15: Partisan: Josip Broz, "Tito"
Chapter 16: Counterinsurgent: Frank Kitson
Chapter 17: People's Warrior: Vo Nguyen Giap
Chapter 18: Bandit Queen: Phoolan Devi
Chapter 19: Chechen Lion: Aslan Maskhadov
Chapter 20: "Master Lessons" . . . and a Look Ahead
Notes
Index

Editorial Reviews

John Arquilla brings to life the accomplishments of "great captains" in irregular warfare, using comparative history, biography, shrewd policy analysis and an uncommon appreciation for military strategy. The case studies and other analyses show that masters of unconventional warfare share common traits, including steadfastness in the face of adversity, adaptive personalities, and the effective use of "modern" means of warfare suitable for small formations, such as swarming and decentralized command. This book is highly recommended for military professionals, teachers and students of national security policy, and others who are intellectually engaged with the problem of irregular warfare in the past and present.

Stephen J. Cimbala

I've read dozens of books on irregular warfare and John Arquilla's Insurgents, Raiders, and Bandits is among the most fascinating, readable and informative. As long on swashbuckling as it is on military savvy, Insurgents is a Plutarch's Lives of renegades, cutthroats and outlaws. From brilliant behind-the-lines fighters like Nathan Bedford Forrest, Orde Wingate and T. E. Lawrence to full-scale heroes of national liberation like Josip Broz (Tito) and Vo Nguyen Giap, the unconventional warriors of Mr. Arquilla's narrative demonstrate again and again how outgunned and outnumbered forces can prevail against an overpowering conventional enemy. This is the present, and it's the future. We need to understand it. Mr. Arquilla's important book sets insurgent and irregular warfare within a telling historical context as his narrative unfolds over the centuries from one Bad Boy to the next. Not just for mil/pol addicts, Insurgents belongs on your shelf and mine. Terrific!

Steven Pressfield

Insurgents, Raiders, and Bandits is a great overview of irregular warfare for the student, academic, and lay reader. Arquilla adds to his academic muscle with an enjoyable work that reads less like history and more like an adventure story.

New York Journal of Books

An informative, enjoyable study.

Military Review

John Arquilla...presents a fascinating history....More than just a battle study, this book shows how these masters of unconventional warfare shared common characteristics, such as an acute appreciation for strategy and policy, adaptive leadership, and tactical innovation. What these fighters accomplished with small, scattered forces against powerful conventional armies is remarkable. Best are Arquilla’s astute analyses of how convention forces adapted to combat irregular warfare.

Military Officer

I've read dozens of books on irregular warfare and John Arquilla's Insurgents, Raiders, and Bandits is among the most fascinating, readable and informative. As long on swashbuckling as it is on military savvy, Insurgents is a Plutarch's Lives of renegades, cutthroats and outlaws. From brilliant behind-the-lines fighters like Nathan Bedford Forrest, Orde Wingate and T. E. Lawrence to full-scale heroes of national liberation like Josip Broz (Tito) and Vo Nguyen Giap, the unconventional warriors of Mr. Arquilla's narrative demonstrate again and again how outgunned and outnumbered forces can prevail against an overpowering conventional enemy. This is the present, and it's the future. We need to understand it. Mr. Arquilla's important book sets insurgent and irregular warfare within a telling historical context as his narrative unfolds over the centuries from one Bad Boy to the next. Not just for mil/pol addicts, Insurgents belongs on your shelf and mine. Terrific!

best-selling author of "Gates of Fire and The Afghan Campaign"