Invisible Armies: An Epic History Of Guerrilla Warfare From Ancient Times To The Present (2013) - Plot & Excerpts
In this sprawling epic history of guerrilla warfare, Boot attempts to construct a single, interwoven narrative of all the most notable insurgencies and counterinsurgencies of world history, stretching from the Peloponnesian War to the American Revolution to Al Qaeda and the Iraq War. For the most part, he does a good job of it. Despite lengthy chapters that could easily be seen as irrelevant diversions, I never felt like Boot was getting bogged down. It is really quite an achievement to keep up such an energetic pace for almost 600 pages, and Boot deserves credit for it.The main stumbling block for the book lies in its central theme: the definition of guerrilla warfare. The issue is even recognized by Boot himself in his introduction, yet he allows it to get the better of him. What could have been (and should have been, in my opinion) an insightful look into the mechanics and examples of guerrilla warfare becomes side-tracked by narratives of lone anarchist terrorist bombers in 19th century Europe. The pace never slows, yet the central messages and explorations of the book become clouded. Although it took me several months, I did enjoy reading this book. I appreciated the simplicity with which Boot addressed his audience, never assuming that his readers were already well versed in some of the more obscure corners of history. I certainly felt that reading it was beneficial if only to fill in the holes of my own historical knowledge, let alone gain a fuller understanding of guerrilla warfare. This summary of guerilla warfare and terrorism from the Roman occupation of Palestine to America’s ongoing misadventure in Afghanistan is a sobering testament to the stubborn destructiveness of mankind. It is peppered with interesting historical comparisons, between 19th Century Anarchists and 20th Century Radical Islamists (neither of which cared one whit about murdering innocent men, women and children), Zionist terrorists blowing up British diplomats and Arab terrorists blowing up Jews (what goes around . . .), the flamboyantly effective Garibaldi versus the grossly overrated Guevara (why is that murderous incompetent on anyone's t-shirt?), and many others. There are also very efficient summaries of the counter-insurgency campaigns waged by various imperialists and occupiers, including the British in America, the French in Algeria, the Americans in Viet Nam, the Soviets in Afghanistan and the Americans (we distressingly keep turning up like a bad penny) in Iraq. However, what the author does not offer much of, despite expending an inordinate amount of text as to same, are many compelling conclusions. Indeed, while I was not expecting a magic formula to effectively combat insurgents and terrorists, I would have thought that the author could offer more insight than the obvious fact that: “an occupying power cannot subdue an insurgency which is popular with the majority of citizens and supplied by an extra-national source.” No kidding. Perhaps the author’s time would have been better spent examining the differences between the Occidental and Oriental and the fool’s errand each side engages in when it attempts to impose its completely different belief systems on the other.Anyway, the larger annoyance is that, for a book on asymmetrical warfare, the book is suffocatingly conventional in organization and presentation. Also, the author has an unfortunate professorial tendency to endlessly summarize and repeat himself. Nevertheless, despite its flaws, this is a very informative book which every civilian and military leader should read. It should also be on every responsible citizen’s bookshelf since it relentlessly highlights the consistent failure of leaders to learn the costly lessons of History. Finally, it might also provide valuable insight into the ongoing American question of “why do they hate us?” (spoiler: it is not because of our freedom).
What do You think about Invisible Armies: An Epic History Of Guerrilla Warfare From Ancient Times To The Present (2013)?
Very good overview of lots of guerrilla wars. Long book, east to read in dozens of small chapters.
—asmarahloveshg
if you are a fan of military this book will give a different insight of the wars of the world.
—Kyashia
