Customer Reviews

Guerrillas: Journeys in the Insurgent World

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After reading Anderson's book, I felt that my knowledge about insurgency was about the equivalent of just a few pieces that were part of a big puzzle that Anderson puts together when describing the various factors motivating people to raise arms, and the common points between the various causes served by guerrilla armies in the world. Anderson lived with them; and shares his observations in his book as nothing more than a story teller and, at the end of each chapter, gives a brief analysis.

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`Guerrillas' is an excellent book from Jon Lee Anderson that explores the politics and stories behind five guerrilla movements around the world.

This follows guerrillas in Afghanistan, El Salvador, Palestine, Burma and the Polisario in Western Sahara and the book is broken up into 7 chapters which focus on different aspects of guerrilla life. `Myths of Creation' looks at how the various movements started and the politics behind their ideals. It looks at how the groups keep grounded to their initial viewpoints and teach this to following generations of guerrillas. `A Parallel Reality' looks at how the groups form their own governments and how they live their idealised lives in tandem with the lives they have to face in reality. `Earning a Living' explores how the movements fund themselves and how the fighters provide for their families. `Making War' looks at how the methodology of waging war differs from group to group. `Systems of Justice' shows us how the groups plan, carry out and administer justice within their controlled areas and for members of their army. `A New Family' looks at how family life suffers if you are in a revolutionary guerrilla movement and how the fighters manage (or not) to balance family and fighting life. It also looks at how fellow comrades become your extended family. Finally, `Speaking to the Gods' looks at religion and spirituality within the guerrilla groups and how some use it as justification for their cause. This book finishes up with an afterword that brings things up to date (of publishing) and shows how some of the causes have succeeded, failed or carried on since the book was originally written.

This was immensely easy to read and completely absorbing. I loved how it moved from one guerrilla movement to another and then back again within each chapter (rather than telling each guerrilla groups story in one chapter and then moving on to the next) so it almost felt like a novel, with an over-arcing narrative that unfolded as you read the book. I would have like some photos or maps to clarify some points raised, but this is a minor niggle and didn't detract from the enjoyment of the book one iota.

All in all this was a fascinating and enjoyable read. Some of the politics and events have moved on since this was written, but for an interesting snap shot in time this is unbeatable.

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Great field study exploring why insurgencies exist and why insurgents fight. A must read for those trying to understand the insurgent mind.

I had high expectations for Jon Lee Anderson's "Guerrillas," but found it disappointing and pointless.

Jon Lee Anderson promises a sociological and anthropological look at the world's insurgencies, but unfortunately cobbles together five different insurgencies of the late eighties that have no relation to each other. The intifada (uprising) in Palestine is the result of a people's hopelessness and disgust at the failure of the PLO's failed insurgency against the Israelis. The mujahedeen in Afghanistan, with the covert aid of the Americans, have already won their insurgency against the Soviets, and are slowly preparing to turn their guns against each other. The Karen are an ethnic minority who are trying to maintain their independence against Burma's brutal junta. The FLMN guerrillas are Marxists who are fighting for a better world in El Salvador. And Polisario of the Western Sahara can't do much fighting because the Moroccans have built a large wall to partition them from their homeland.

Mr. Anderson tries to structure his reporting and analysis into different categories: ideology, systems of justice, propaganda, etc. He's looking for a bigger story here, but he can't find it because these insurgencies are all too localized.