The Encyclopedia of Guerrilla Warfare

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Summary: Encyclopedia of Guerrilla Warfare
Review: This is one reference book that anyone who considers themselves interested in any of the following topics - history, military studies, international relations, or regional studies - cannot be without. It is a work of genius by one of the leading experts in this field of study.

British military historian Ian F. W. Beckett does a masterful job in examining the issue of guerrilla warfare in both a "readable" as well as comprehensive fashion. This book can be opened up anywhere and the reader will find him or herself enthralled in this fascinating topic.

The professional as well as the simply curious will truly enjoy this book, and it is something that one will just enjoy browsing through. This book will complete any personal or professional reference collection, and will provide hours of fascinating and educational reading enjoyment.

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Summary: Needs less Union Jack worship, and more guerrilla info
Review: While the book's title would lead one to believe that the primary focus would be on guerrilla warfare, the bulk of th book has little to no info on the tactics (even if only a brief listing) , the politics, nor any real info on various guerrilla strategists (che guevara info less than a paragraph, information on Field Marshall Tito and his tying up more Nazi resources than allied actions in North Africa, paltry info on Chechen guerrilla leaders and tactics, zip on Bosnian leaders/tactics etc). What the book does have is quite a bit of fawning over large (sometime page size) photos of British soldiers staring at the camera (presumably winking at the author) and useless, drawn out (sometime three pages or more which is rather long given the sentences given to just about everything else) explanations of various counter-insurgency terms (but not comprehensive doctrine). Worst of all, the book hardly has any photos (which would make up for its lack of information). Purchase the following books: WAR OF THE FLEA, and the two volume set of Robert Asprey's WAR IN THE SHADOWS!!!!!!!! They provide indepth info on not only the guerrilla groups, but the economic conditions etc that gave birth to them, the demographic compositions (how they affected tactics) as well as counter-insurgency methods used against etc and they both cover from antiquity to the modern era.