Small wars

their principles and practice

3rd ed.
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Last edited by MARC Bot
August 11, 2024 | History

Small wars

their principles and practice

3rd ed.
  • 0 Ratings
  • 0 Want to read
  • 0 Currently reading
  • 0 Have read

"Originally published in 1896, Small Wars is an ambitious attempt to analyze and draw lessons from Western experience in fighting campaigns of imperial conquest." "For the historian, Small Wars remains a useful and vital analysis of irregular warfare experiences, ranging from Hoche's suppression of the Vendee revolt during the French Revolution to the British wars against semi-organized armies of Marathas and Sikhs in mid-nineteenth-century India to the Boer War of 1899-1902." "The military specialist discovers in Callwell lessons applicable to what today is called "low-intensity conflict." His message is clear, and it is relevant to current debates about conflicts as diverse as those in Bosnia, Somalia, and Vietnam. Technological superiority is an important, but seldom critical, ingredient in the success of low-intensity operations. An ability to adapt to terrain and climate, to match the enemy in mobility and inventiveness, to collect intelligence, and above all the capacity to "seize what the enemy prizes most," will determine success or failure. This reprint adds historical dimensions to the growing literature on unconventional conflict."--BOOK JACKET.

Publish Date
Language
English
Pages
559

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Previews available in: English

Edition Availability
Cover of: Small Wars
Small Wars: Their Principles and Practice
2012-08-12, Tales End Press
eBook (EPUB)
Cover of: Small Wars
Small Wars: Their Principles and Practice
2012-08-12, Tales End Press
eBook (Kindle) in English
Cover of: Small wars
Small wars: their principles and practice
1996, University of Nebraska Press
in English - 3rd ed.
Cover of: Small wars
Small wars: their principles and practice
1976, EP Publishing
in English - 3rd ed.
Cover of: Small wars
Small wars: their principles and practice
1909, General Staff--War Office ; H. M. Stationery Office
in English - 3rd ed.
Cover of: Small wars.
Small wars.: Their principles and practice
1906, Printed for H. M. Stationery Office, by Harrison and Sons
in English - 3d ed. General staff - War office. 1906.

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Book Details


Edition Notes

Includes bibliographical references and index.
"Bison books"--P. [i].
Originally published: 3rd ed. London : H.M.S.O., 1906. With new introd.

Published in
Lincoln

Classifications

Dewey Decimal Class
355.02
Library of Congress
U240 .C32 1996, U240.C32 1996

The Physical Object

Pagination
xviii, 559 p. :
Number of pages
559

ID Numbers

Open Library
OL793234M
Internet Archive
smallwarstheirpr0000call
ISBN 10
080326366X
LCCN
95025837
OCLC/WorldCat
33335632
Library Thing
22188
Goodreads
1021305

Work Description

This is the original manual for “small wars,” now known variously as guerrilla warfare, asymmetric combat, and low-intensity conflict. It was first published in 1896 as an analysis and how-to guide for the British Army as it fought to expand the boundaries of the British Empire. Its author, Major General Sir Charles Edward Callwell, collects and distills combat experience from a vast range of British, French, and Russian imperial campaigns and rebellions. Callwell then draws several universal small-war combat lessons that are still true today, including the need for “boldness and vigor” to keep irregular forces off-balance, the vital role of intelligence, the importance of seizing and holding important terrain (most often the high ground), and the final war-winning requirement to “seize what the enemy prizes most.” He also shows that technological superiority alone is not enough, and that logistics and supply can lock an army in place instead of freeing it. Some of the Afghanistan battlefields described in the book are still being fought over today, with much the same disparity in forces, over a century later – it is impossible to miss the lessons of history in this classic work.

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History

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August 11, 2024 Edited by MARC Bot import existing book
August 3, 2020 Edited by ImportBot import existing book
August 13, 2012 Edited by JonathanH Edited without comment.
August 13, 2012 Edited by JonathanH Edited without comment.
December 10, 2009 Created by WorkBot add works page