Knife Fights - A Memoir of Modern War in Theory and Practice

From one of the most important Army officers of his generation, a memoir of the military’s revolution in counterinsurgency warfare Delivering a profound education in modern warfare, John Nagl’s Knife Fights is essential reading for anyone who cares about the fate of America’s soldiers and the purposes for which their lives are put at risk. As an army tank commander in the first Gulf War, Nagl was an early convert to the view that America’s greatest future threats would come from asymmetric warfare--guerrillas, terrorists, and insurgents. His Oxford thesis on the lessons of Vietnam--eventually published as a book called Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife --became the bible of the counterinsurgency movement. But it would take 9/11 and the botched aftermath of the Iraq invasion to give his ideas contemporary relevance. After a year’s hard fighting in Iraq’s Anbar Province, where Nagl served as operations officer of a tank battalion in the 1st Infantry Division, he was asked by General David Petraeus to coauthor the new Army and Marine Corps counterinsurgency field manual--rewriting core doctrine that would change the course of two wars and the thinking of an army. Knife Fights is the definitive account of counterinsurgency and its consequences by the man who was the doctrine’s leading architect.

Product details

• Authors: John Nagl, John A Nagl, John A. Nagl
• Publisher: Penguin Books USA
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 13.10.2015
• EAN: 9780143127765
• ISBN: 978-0-14-312776-5
• No. of pages: 288
• Dimensions: 142 mm x 215 mm x 19 mm
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > Contemporary history (1945 to 1989); Non-fiction book > Politics, society, business > Biographies, autobiographies; Social sciences, law, business > Sociology > General, dictionaries; USA, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Security (National & International), HISTORY / Military / General, Memoirs, HISTORY / Military / United States, HISTORY / Military / Strategy, HISTORY / Middle East / Iraq, 21st Century, 21st century history: from c 2000 -, 21st century, c 2000 to c 2100, United States of America, USA, Middle Eastern history, Iraq, Military tactics, Military and defence strategy, Modern warfare, Military history: post-WW2 conflicts, Early 21st century c 2000 to c 2050, Iraq War, HISTORY / Wars & Conflicts / General, BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Memoirs