Member Review Invisible Armies, by Max Boot

Bee

Captain
Asst. Regtl. Quartermaster Gettysburg 2017
Joined
Dec 21, 2015
Since there is a core group here in the CWT who have shown depth of knowledge on the fighting style of Guerrilla Warfare, I thought I would share an "alternative" read that I pick up between CW immersion readings: Invisible Armies, by Max Boot. Of note: The history of the guerrilla warfare is broken down into immensely readable short vignettes, so that one can cover a particular style of GW in a matter of 5-10 pages -- excellent for lunchtime reading. Also, as each of the sub-chapter topics are self-contained, one can skip ahead to a topic of particular interest. For me, it was the Boer War. To my surprise, there was much in common with Lord Roberts order of burning Boer farms & Sherman's burning of Atlanta. After reading a few chapters, one realizes that not much in the idea of "new" has been introduced to warfare over the centuries, except the tools of the trade.

Book Review: Invisible Armies, by Max Boot

Invisible Armies, by Max Boot, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, is an authoritative and superbly written examination of the evolution of guerrilla warfare and its close cousin, terrorism. Boot contends these forms of warfare are more prevalent throughout history than conventional state-on-state conflict because they are inexpensive and do not require a great deal of skill to prosecute. This makes guerrilla warfare the perfect weapon for the weak and disenfranchised. Boot contends that, despite the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq and drawdown in Afghanistan, we have not seen the end of these wars. Precisely because the United States is so dominant in conventional war, likely enemies in the future will engage in irregular combat in an attempt to even the odds.

Invisible Armies first examines guerrilla warfare in the ancient world, where Boot introduces the paradox of why guerrilla warfare, a weap-on of the weak, is so effective against organized militaries. He then examines revolutionaries, including rebels in the American Revolutionary War, Spanish guerrillas fighting Napoleonic armies and the Italian war for independence. Following chapters detail guerrilla conflicts contesting Western imperialism, the advent of international terrorism, guerrillas and commandos in the world wars, the wars of national liberation and rise of leftist revolutionaries after 1945, and the recent conflicts involving radical Islam. Boot provides context and color to each of these eras, along with a thorough examination of how guerrilla warfare and terrorism evolved in each period. http://www.historynet.com/book-review-invisible-armies-by-max-boot.htm
 
Since there is a core group here in the CWT who have shown depth of knowledge on the fighting style of Guerrilla Warfare, I thought I would share an "alternative" read that I pick up between CW immersion readings: Invisible Armies, by Max Boot. Of note: The history of the guerrilla warfare is broken down into immensely readable short vignettes, so that one can cover a particular style of GW in a matter of 5-10 pages -- excellent for lunchtime reading. Also, as each of the sub-chapter topics are self-contained, one can skip ahead to a topic of particular interest. For me, it was the Boer War. To my surprise, there was much in common with Lord Roberts order of burning Boer farms & Sherman's burning of Atlanta. After reading a few chapters, one realizes that not much in the idea of "new" has been introduced to warfare over the centuries, except the tools of the trade.

Book Review: Invisible Armies, by Max Boot

Invisible Armies, by Max Boot, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, is an authoritative and superbly written examination of the evolution of guerrilla warfare and its close cousin, terrorism. Boot contends these forms of warfare are more prevalent throughout history than conventional state-on-state conflict because they are inexpensive and do not require a great deal of skill to prosecute. This makes guerrilla warfare the perfect weapon for the weak and disenfranchised. Boot contends that, despite the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq and drawdown in Afghanistan, we have not seen the end of these wars. Precisely because the United States is so dominant in conventional war, likely enemies in the future will engage in irregular combat in an attempt to even the odds.

Invisible Armies first examines guerrilla warfare in the ancient world, where Boot introduces the paradox of why guerrilla warfare, a weap-on of the weak, is so effective against organized militaries. He then examines revolutionaries, including rebels in the American Revolutionary War, Spanish guerrillas fighting Napoleonic armies and the Italian war for independence. Following chapters detail guerrilla conflicts contesting Western imperialism, the advent of international terrorism, guerrillas and commandos in the world wars, the wars of national liberation and rise of leftist revolutionaries after 1945, and the recent conflicts involving radical Islam. Boot provides context and color to each of these eras, along with a thorough examination of how guerrilla warfare and terrorism evolved in each period. http://www.historynet.com/book-review-invisible-armies-by-max-boot.htm
Of course by the same token many guerrilla conflicts end in defeat for the guerrillas. Many terrorism movements end in defeat or a negotiated settlement. Also successful guerrilla movements often receive a lot of foreign assistance.Many governments that wage a somewhat successful COIN war also get quite a bit of foreign assistance. Each conflict has to be looked on as a unique conflict which shares some similarities with others but also some differences.
During the ACW the Confederate guerrillas received of course no foreign assistance. The best the Confederacy could manage was to buy weapons on the open market but they had to pay full market value and figure out how to evade the USN blockade.
Confederate guerrillas fought for the same reason that the Confederate Army fought and that is to of course preserve slavery. Once Lee surrendered so did most but not every single guerrilla. Even so some of the most fanatical CSA guerrillas such as Archie Clements and Samuel Hilderbrand knew when to call it quits although Hilderbrand would occasionally still kill people but he moved to Il and kept it on the down low. Commando techniques where used quite a bit in the ACW by both sides such has of course Mosby and O'Neil for the CSA and Col. Kirk for the Union.
Leftyhunter
 
Good day! Not sure if this is the good place to post the following. I have between 30-35 Civil War books to depart with, if someone would like to pick them up I would gladly give them away in a lot. I live in the area of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada and unfortunately there's not much interest about the CW around here.

Hope I can find someone interested!

Fran
 
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