The Accidental Guerrilla Fighting Small Wars in the Midst of a Big One

by Kilcullen, David

• ISBN13: 9780199754090
• ISBN10: 0199754098
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-04-15
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

This is a paperback conversion of a trade title first published in February 2009 at $27.95. It has sold 35,000 copies (38,100 gross). Currently 2,757 copies are in stock. It was a Washington Post Bestseller. 'For a wider perspective on the lessons drawn over the past seven years of the 'war on terror', the reader can do no better than turn to Mr Kilcullen's excellent book. The Accidental Guerrilla has an anthropologist's sense of social dynamics and a reporter's eye for telling detail. If T.E. Lawrence evoked the means of waging irregular warfare in his 1926 classic, 'Seven Pillars of Wisdom', Mr Kilcullen describes the practitioner's art of combating insurgents.'-The Economist 'This book should be required reading for every American soldier, as well as anyone involved in the war on terror. Kilcullen's central concept of the 'accidental guerrilla' is brilliant and the policy prescriptions that flow from it important. And that's not all; the book has many more insights drawn from various battlefields.'--Fareed Zakaria, Newsweek 'Kilcullen's compelling argument merits wide attention.'--Publishers Weekly Starred Review 'Kilcullen's book is about more than the accidental guerrilla...it is about a global insurgency and how to deal with it.... A fine book.'--The New Criterion 'Kilcullen's ideas... are likely to shape U.S. policy in Iraq and Afghanistan for the immediate future.'--Laura Miller, Salon.com 'The Accidental Guerrilla is a master class in counterinsurgency from a man who, as much as anyone, is responsible for recent successes in Iraq.'--The Boston Globe 'Kilcullen's influence on how the U.S. military thought about counterinsurgency campaigning cannot be overstated.'--Tom Ricks, author of The Gamble 'There are some standard texts on [counterinsurgency]. The Accidental Guerrilla is sure to become one.'--The Wall Street Journal 'This book is essential.... Kilcullen skillfully interprets the future of counterinsurgency, the proper use of military force and what we must learn from our losses and mistakes. After reading The Accidental Guerrilla , one is left to wonder why the Pentagon did not listen to his sage advice back in 2003.'--New York Times Book Review 'Kilcullen's book is altogether [] substantial, with analyses, prescriptions and admonitions derived from the study of Islamist violence from England to Thailand, and more largely from the author's varied personal experiences as an observer, combatant and adviser in Timor, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan as well as in the innermost corridors of power, both civil and uniformed. ... [H]e tells many good stories and his analysis is never less than rigorous, and also properly set in the relevant political contexts.'--The Times Literary Supplement

Author Biography

David Kilcullen was formerly counterinsurgency advisor to General David Petraeus in Iraq and to the NATO Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, and currently serves as a consultant to the U.S. government. Kilcullen is also Adjunct Professor of Security Studies at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and a Fellow at the Center for a New American Security.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

Author's Preface

Prologue - West Java, December 1996

The Accidental Guerrilla

"The Twenty-First Day" - Iraq during the Surge, 2007

"The Crazies Will Kill Them" - Afghanistan, 2006-2008

"Terrain, Tribes and Terrorists" - conflicts outside Iraq and Afghanistan

"Turning an Elephant into a Mouse" - beyond the War on Terrorism

Conclusion

Note on Sources

Notes to Chapters

List of Abbreviations used in the text

Bibliography

Index

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.