Guerrillas in History; Hoover Institution Studies, 28
Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press, 1979. Fourth Printing [stated]. Trade paperback. vii, [1], 99, [5] pages. Footnotes. Selected Bibliography. Lewis Henry Gann (1924–1997) was an academic historian, political scientist and archivist. Although particularly known for his research in African history, Gann worked in a number of research fields including the history of Germany and the United States. Gann joined the University of Oxford and gained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Modern History from Balliol College, Oxford in 1950. After graduating, he traveled to Central Africa where he took a research post at the Rhodes-Livingstone Institute in Northern Rhodesia. He continued his studies at Oxford and gained a masters (B.Litt.) and doctorate in 1967. Gann emigrated to the United States in 1963 where he took up a position at the Hoover Institution Library and Archives in Stanford University as curator of the Institute's African and European collections. Gann had written or edited 38 books and academic monographs, mainly on the subject of African history and political science. Derived from a review posted on-line: Guerrillas always win – at least that was the popular narrative that created an era of infatuation with guerrilla uprisings during the 1960s and 1970s. Consequently, Lewis Gann wrote his monograph on --small wars-- to dispel the growing myth that partisan warfare was romantic or novel. His work, Guerrillas in History, follows guerrilla warfare from Biblical times to the book’s publishing in 1971. Gann describes the similarities of guerrilla warfare across time and details how guerrillas often lost, a relevant subject given today’s threat environment. The author illustrates both successful and unsuccessful guerrilla wars in nearly every geography and culture. He chronicles partisan warfare from Maccabaeus in 166 B.C. through the twentieth century campaigns in Vietnam, Angola, and the Congo. He concludes that guerrilla warfare will remain protracted, violent, and will continue to challenge modern conventional militaries– an astute prediction forty years ago. Condition: Good.
Keywords: Partisan Warfare, Imperialism, Guerrilla Warfare, WWII, Viet Cong, Insurgencies, Assassinations, Maccabees, Vietnam, Low-Intensity Conflict, Small Wars
ISBN: 081793281X
[Book #77150]
Price: $37.50