PDA

View Full Version : A former FAOs reading List on COIN


Tom Odom
04-19-2006, 08:09
A friend of mine walked into my office the other day and asked me to put together a preferred reading list on counter-insurgency. I decided to take on the task with the self-limitation of using only those works that I could pull off my own bookshelves or online at the Combat Studies Institute and the Center of Military History. By doing so, I hope to avoid the trendy use of history. That is not say that recent works such as Nagl's Learning to Eat Soup With a Knife, Hammes' The Sling and the Stone, and Boot's Savage Wars of Peace are not valuable and insightful works. But I wanted to offer a broader view on counter insurgency using both readily available and lesser-known works. And I deliberately stepped beyond a narrow definition of counter insurgency to the broader swath referred to as "small wars." In my own experience and my historical work, I have found that wars rarely fall into neat categories. Counter insurgency operations can occur in many different forms; insurgencies are equally chameleon.

I freely confess this list reflects my own military experience and interests as a former foreign area officer for the Middle East and Africa. Some of the books are therefore in French; I encourage anyone with a smattering of French to use that capability. Before getting on with this, I should also say that I attempted to catalog my recommendations using categories of participants and conflict zones. I noted those works I consider absolutely critical to understanding counter-insurgency warfare and numbered them according to priority. The complete list is 32 pages, much too long for here,. I will send it email to anyone who wants to see it.

Best
Tom

here is my Critical list:

Critical Number 1 Eric Hoffer, The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements. Counter insurgency operations target the population. I read Hoffer's book in 1981 as a graduate student in the Middle East Area studies program at the Naval Postgraduate School. Hoffer--a self-educated longshoreman--published this book in 1951 and it remains available today. In it he examines the fanatic who seeks significance through a cause. It is as applicable today as it was when it first appeared. You cannot hope to understand an insurgency --especially an insurgency built on fanaticism--without reading this book. You can read more about Hoffer at http://www.erichoffer.net/. The True Believer is offered on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060505915/002-8633662-3731201?v=glance&n=283155.

Critical Number 2. Bernard Fall, Street Without Joy Fall's broader work on the Indochina- Viet Nam War from the French through 1964. I place this work so high on the list because it demonstrates that the Viet Nam War was at once an insurgency, a civil war, and a conventional war. The book is avaliable on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0811717003/ref=pd_sim_b_1/002-8633662-3731201?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=283155

Critical Number 3. Roger Trinquier, Modern Warfare: A French View of Counterinsurgency. Whenever counter insurgency is discussed, some one brings up Trinquier. You cannot understand the evolution of U.S. COIN doctrine without reading Trinquier. Available on line for reading and download at http://www-cgsc.army.mil/carl/resources/csi/trinquier/trinquier.asp.

Critical Number 4. T.E. Lawrence, The Evolution of a Revolt. This article some 24 pages in length captures the heart of Lawrence's self-promoting Seven Pillars of Wisdom. It is an easy but intellectually filling read. You can read or download it at http://www-cgsc.army.mil/carl/download/csipubs/lawrence.pdf or http://www-cgsc.army.mil/carl/resources/csi/Lawrence/lawrence.asp.

Critical Number 5 E.D. Swinton, The Defence of Duffer's Drift This small pamphlet is a classic in small unit leadership in counter insurgency and the colonial wars. You can read or download it at http://www-cgsc.army.mil/carl/resources/csi/Swinton/Swinton.asp
or http://www-cgsc.army.mil/carl/download/csipubs/swinton.pdf.

Critical Number 6 Franz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth. If you wish to understand the recent riots in France (2006) then you need to read this book. I do not offer this book as an acceptance of Fanon's views but a window inside his mindset, a mindset still very much in play in the Third World. This book makes an excellent companion to Hoffer's True Believer. Available on Amazon at:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0802150837/qid=1143839201/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/002-8633662-3731201?s=books&v=glance&n=283155.

Critical Number 7 Lester W. Grau, The Bear Went Over the Mountain: Soviet Combat Tactics in Afghanistan. The Afghan War from the Soviet side.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0788146653/sr=1-2/qid=1144086288/ref=pd_bbs_2/002-8633662-3731201?%5Fencoding=UTF8&s=books

Critical Number 8 Ali Ahmad Jalali, Lester W. Grau, and John E. Rhodes, Afghan Guerrilla Warfare: In the Words of the Mujahideen Fighters. The Afghan War from the Afghan side.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0760313229/ref=pd_bxgy_text_b/002-8633662-3731201?%5Fencoding=UTF8

For a listing of articles by Mr. Grau and Jalali go to:
http://fmso.leavenworth.army.mil/products.htm

Critical Number 9 Frances Fitzgerald, Fire in the Lake, The Vietnamese and the Americans in Vietnam. This is one of the few works that truly accounts for the Vietnamese side of the equation. Available on Amazon at:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0316159190/sr=1-1/qid=1144088383/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-8633662-3731201?%5Fencoding=UTF8&s=books

Critical Number 10 Andrew Krepinevich, The Army and Vietnam. This study is one of the best monographs on the Viet Nam War. Available on Amazon at:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0801836573/sr=1-1/qid=1144089639/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-8633662-3731201?%5Fencoding=UTF8&s=books

Critical Number 11 Neil Sheehan, A Bright and Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam. This is the story of John Paul Vann as an embodiment of the US effort in the Vietnamese War. Available on Amazon at: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0679724141/sr=1-1/qid=1144090660/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-8633662-3731201?%5Fencoding=UTF8&s=books

Critical Number 12 David Fromkin, A Peace to End All Peace: Creating the Modern Middle East 1914-1922. This is the best single book on how decisions made in WWI affect us everyday today. Available on Amazon at: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0805068848/sr=1-3/qid=1144090904/ref=pd_bbs_3/002-8633662-3731201?%5Fencoding=UTF8&s=books

Critical Number 13 LTG Romeo Dallaire, Shake Hands With the Devil. this book is more than a simple commander's memoir of the tragedy; it provides invaluable insights into UN peacekeeping operations. Available on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BZ99WY/sr=1-1/qid=1144093706/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-8633662-3731201?%5Fencoding=UTF8&s=books

CPTAUSRET
04-19-2006, 10:21
Looks as if I have some reading to do.

I read Bernard Fall's "S W J", prior to going to RVN in 65, enjoyed the read, and learned a bit about what I was getting into.

Terry

NousDefionsDoc
04-19-2006, 11:59
Tom,
You are a lib.:p

I would add
Gurr's - Why Men Rebel
Nagl - Learning To Eat Soup With a Knife - although you touched on it.
O'Neill - Insurgency and Terrorism
Joes - Resisting Rebellion
Galula - Counterinsurgency Warfare
And of course Human Factors Considerations of Undergrounds in Insurgencies

Another favorite is Origins of Terrorism: Psychologies, Ideologies, Theologies, States of Mind
Walter Laquer and Walter Reich
It deals more with terrorism, but terrorists are insurgents with a specific tactic and this book gives good insight.

Limiting your list to your own bookshelf is...well...limiting. Of course my additions came from my own bookshelf...:)

MtnGoat
04-19-2006, 13:22
Great list I need to pick some of these up. Thanks for the links too. Just wanted to add this link for over the mtn (http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/6453/afghanistan.html). Great excerpts from The Other Side of the Mountain: Mujahideen Tactics in the Soviet-Afghan War. By Ali Ahmad Jalali and Lester Grau.


Critical Number 7 Lester W. Grau, The Bear Went Over the Mountain: Soviet Combat Tactics in Afghanistan. The Afghan War from the Soviet side.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0788146653/sr=1-2/qid=1144086288/ref=pd_bbs_2/002-8633662-3731201?%5Fencoding=UTF8&s=books


Currently reading Human Factors Considerations of Undergrounds in Insurgencies. Great book, I think my highlighter is running out. ;) I have book markers from hell too.

Tom Odom
04-19-2006, 14:24
Tom,
You are a lib.:p
...

Limiting your list to your own bookshelf is...well...limiting. Of course my additions came from my own bookshelf...:)

I be an Aggie; that is always a tough place to start.

Yesterday I took this test at http://www.theadvocates.org/quiz.html and it said I am a centrist....:confused:

Limiting my choices to my own bookshelf (and the internet) makes me a cheap SOB :D

Glad ya'll liked the list...

Best
Tom

Airbornelawyer
04-19-2006, 15:56
For a listing of articles by Mr. Grau and Jalidi go to:
http://fmso.leavenworth.army.mil/products.htm

I corrected the typos in the list to Ali Jalali's name. He was an old friend of mine from when he was at VOA, though I can't say as I've seen him in over a decade.

stone
04-19-2006, 18:51
I read A Bright Shining Lie a few years ago and really enjoyed it; John Paul Vann was most definitely a unique individual. Have been meaning to read Street Without Joy (and Hell In A Very Small Place) for a while but haven't gotten around to it-- maybe now's the time.

Tom Odom
04-20-2006, 06:43
I corrected the typos in the list to Ali Jalali's name. He was an old friend of mine from when he was at VOA, though I can't say as I've seen him in over a decade.
Thanks mate!

I did that on one version and missed it when I posted this. In any case, let me say again if anyone wants the full list, send me an email address via private message. At 32 pages, this bibliography is too long to post or attach here.

Best to all,
Tom

Martin
04-20-2006, 07:17
I picked up The True Believer at the library. I am at a loss of words in want of saying a lot! Have only read part one yet and am not comfortable to say if an important part is missing, but I think it will come later. Anyway, I would really recommend this to everyone. Timeless, and very current.

NDD, I think you would find it interesting.

Awesome writing, too!

Martin

The Reaper
04-20-2006, 14:18
I be an Aggie; that is always a tough place to start.

Yesterday I took this test at http://www.theadvocates.org/quiz.html and it said I am a centrist....:confused:

Limiting my choices to my own bookshelf (and the internet) makes me a cheap SOB :D

Glad ya'll liked the list...

Best
Tom

"Strong Libertarian" here.

TR

CPTAUSRET
04-20-2006, 14:28
CONSERVATIVE


CONSERVATIVES tend to favor economic freedom, but frequently

support laws to restrict personal behavior that violates "traditional
values." They oppose excessive government control of business,

while endorsing government action to defend morality and the

traditional family structure. Conservatives usually support a strong

military, oppose bureaucracy and high taxes, favor a free-market

economy, and endorse strong law enforcement.

NousDefionsDoc
04-20-2006, 15:52
I picked up The True Believer at the library. I am at a loss of words in want of saying a lot! Have only read part one yet and am not comfortable to say if an important part is missing, but I think it will come later. Anyway, I would really recommend this to everyone. Timeless, and very current.

NDD, I think you would find it interesting.

Awesome writing, too!

Martin
Already added to the wish list.

Roguish Lawyer
04-20-2006, 15:54
ACCORDING TO YOUR ANSWERS,

The political description that
fits you best is...
LIBERTARIAN

LIBERTARIANS support maximum liberty in both personal and

economic matters. They advocate a much smaller government; one

that is limited to protecting individuals from coercion and violence.

Libertarians tend to embrace individual responsibility, oppose

government bureaucracy and taxes, promote private charity, tolerate

diverse lifestyles, support the free market, and defend civil liberties.

BondWells
04-20-2006, 21:05
Below is the title of an excellent book that examines the historical situation in the Caucasus and southern Russia and puts it into a great perspective - really explains the mentality and warrior approach of the peoples of that region.

The Sabres of Paradise : Conquest and Vengeance in the Caucasus, Revised Edition
by Lesley Blanch

Slantwire
04-21-2006, 06:33
LIBERTARIAN

Your PERSONAL issues Score is 70%.
Your ECONOMIC issues Score is 90%.