Violent Politics: A History of Insurgency, Terrorism, and Guerrilla War, from the American Revolution to Iraq

This book offers further proof that those who don't understand history are destined to repeat it It is a comprehensive and clear discussion of the history of insurgency from the American Revoloution through the current mess in Iraq. I think of it as an education in one book. I found the history of the troubles in Ireland especially enlightening. Anyone who can continue to defend our incursions into Vietnam and Iraq after... Read Full Review

An extraordinary review of the political history of terrorism from a master of the history and culture of the middle east.

This is an important book. William Polk reviews important insurgencies from the American Revolution to Iraq. He lays out principles of successful and failed insurgencies and equally importantly why interventions fail. Shelby Foote, the great Civil War historian, relates a brief story about a Union officer interrogating a captured Confederate soldier that summarizes an important part of William Polk's thesis. The officer asks,"Why... Read Full Review

This is a book about insurgency and some of its major tools--terrorism and guerilla warfare. William Polk begins by observing that one factor is common to insurgencies (page xiii): "no matter how they differ in form, duration, and intensity, a single thread runs through them all: opposition to foreigners. Occupation by outsiders creates the conditions for insurgency, then. That is the central thesis of his book. Throughout... Read Full Review

Foreign Service and State Department people are immensely knowledegable about their areas. It means learning an odd language or two, absorbing many volumes of history and past international relations, becoming respectful of myriad social customs and religious practices and consequently forming a political astuteness that will be useful to the boss in Washington. Of course, when the boss communes with God and gets direction... Read Full Review