America's Dirty Wars
Irregular Warfare from 1776 to the War on Terror

This book examines the long, complex experience of American involvement in irregular warfare.

Russell Crandall (Author)

9781107003132, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 28 April 2014

598 pages, 21 b/w illus. 22 maps
23.5 x 15.7 x 3.8 cm, 0.94 kg

'Russell Crandall has quickly established himself as a leader in a new generation of social science/foreign policy analysts. His latest book is a sweeping but focused overview and analysis of one of the more fascinating aspects of American history - counterinsurgency warfare. Crandall's goal is to provide a panoramic view of the US experience in dirty wars - lessons learned, lessons forgotten. Through his sophisticated research and effective presentation, Crandall fully offers the most comprehensive work of its kind to date. I recommend this volume without hesitation.' Riordan Roett, Director of the Latin American Studies Program and Western Hemisphere Studies, The Johns Hopkins University

This book examines the long, complex experience of American involvement in irregular warfare. It begins with the American Revolution in 1776 and chronicles big and small irregular wars for the next two and a half centuries. What is readily apparent in dirty wars is that failure is painfully tangible while success is often amorphous. Successfully fighting these wars often entails striking a critical balance between military victory and politics. America's status as a democracy only serves to make fighting - and, to a greater degree, winning - these irregular wars even harder. Rather than futilely insisting that Americans should not or cannot fight this kind of irregular war, Russell Crandall argues that we would be better served by considering how we can do so as cleanly and effectively as possible.

1. Introduction
2. Irregular warfare 101
Part I. The American Revolution to Chasing Sandino, 1776–1930s: 3. The American Revolution
4. Confederates and Indians
5. Intermezzo: the Boer War
6. America, Aguinaldo, and the Philippines, 1898
7. Chasing Villa, 1916
8. A cold winter in Siberia
9. The Banana Wars, 1898–1930s
10. Intermezzo: T. E. Lawrence and the Arab Revolt, 1916–18
11. Chasing Sandino, 1927–32
Part II. The Cold War, 1940s–1989: 12. Cold War counterinsurgencies
13. Intermezzo: Mao Zedong
14. Fighting communism in Greece
15. Intermezzo: France in Algeria, 1954–62
16. Intermezzo: David Galula
17. Intermezzo: Malaya emergency, 1948–60
18. Ramón Magsaysay and the Hukbalahap Rebellion in the Philippines, 1946–56
19. Vietnam
Part III. Latin America and the Cold War, 1950s–1980s: 20. From Guatemala, 1954, to Cuba and the Bay of Pigs, 1961
21. Guatemala, post-1963
22. Cuba, post-1963
23. Intermezzo: Che Guevara and guerrilla warfare
24. Carter, Reagan, and the Sandinista revolution in Nicaragua, 1979–90
25. El Salvador, 1979–92
Part IV. Post–Cold War, 1990s–2000s: 26. Dirty wars after the Cold War
27. Colombia
28. Iraq
29. Intermezzo: the counterinsurgency field manual and postmodern insurgencies
30. Post-9/11 COIN in the Philippines
31. Intermezzo: Afghanistan, graveyard of empires
32. The longest war: America in Afghanistan
33. The fall of Muammar Qaddafi, 2011
34. Intermezzo: JSOC raids and drone strikes
35. Conclusion.

Subject Areas: 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000 [HBLW], Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900 [HBLL], History of the Americas [HBJK]