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On Guerrilla Warfare (Paperback)

by Mao Tse-tung (Author), Samuel B Griffith (Author) "IN A WAR OF REVOLUTIONARY CHARACTER, guerrilla operations are a necessary part..." (more)
Key Phrases: guerrilla hostilities, revolutionary guerrilla war, guerrilla regimes, Tai Shan, Eighth Route Army, North China (more...)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description
'One of the most influential documents of our time, Mao Tse-tung's pamphlet on guerrilla warfare has become the basic textbook for waging revolution in underdeveloped and emergent areas throughout the world. Recognizing the fundamental disparity between agrarian and urban societies, Mao advocated unorthodox strategies that converted deficits into advantages: using intelligence provided by the sympathetic peasant population; substituting deception, mobility, and surprise for superior firepower; using retreat as an offensive move; and educating the inhabitants on the ideological basis of the struggle.This radical new approach to warfare, waged in jungles and mountains by mobile guerrilla bands closely supported by local inhabitants, has been adopted by other revolutionary leaders from Ho Chi Minh to Che Guevara. Mao wrote On Guerrilla Warfare in 1937 while in retreat after ten years of battling the Nationalist army of Chiang Kai-shek. Twelve years later, the Nationalist Chinese were rousted from the mainland, and Mao consolidated his control of a new nation, having put his theories of revolutionary guerrilla warfare to the test. Established governments have slowly come to recognize the need to understand and devise means to counter this new method of warfare. Samuel B. Griffith's classic translation makes Mao's treatise widely available and includes a comprehensive introduction that profiles Mao, analyzes the nature and conduct of guerrilla warfare, and considers its implications for American policy'.

Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Chinese --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

Paperback: 128 pages
Publisher: University of Illinois Press; 2 Sub edition (September 21, 2000)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0252068920
ISBN-13: 978-0252068928
Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #58,209 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!

Inside This Book (learn more)

First Sentence:
IN A WAR OF REVOLUTIONARY CHARACTER, guerrilla operations are a necessary part. Read the first page

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
guerrilla hostilities, revolutionary guerrilla war, guerrilla regimes, orthodox forces, guerrilla area, guerrilla troops, guerrilla units, guerrilla operations, bird guns, guerrilla strategy, guerrilla action

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Tai Shan, Eighth Route Army, North China, Jen Ch'i Shan

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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!

Citations (learn more)

This book cites 2 books:

The White Army by Anton I. Denikin on page 60
On War (Dodo Press) by Carl von, General Clausewitz on page 49

57 books cite this book:

Rethinking the Nature of War (Cass Contemporary Security Studies) by I. Duyvesteyn on page 23, page 25, and page 83
The Tet Effect: Intelligence and the Public Perception of War (Cass Military Studies) by Jake Blood in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
Clausewitz and African War: Politics and Strategy in Liberia and Somalia by Isab Duyvesteyn in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
Infowar by G. Stocker in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
The Evolution of Special Forces in Counter-Terrorism: The British and American Experiences (Praeger Studies in Diplomacy and Strategic Thought) by J. Paul de B. Taillon on page 82, and Back Matter

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Customer Reviews

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30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars On the many facets of guerrilla activity, April 8, 2005

By	Michael J. Mazza (Pittsburgh, PA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME) (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

"On Guerrilla Warfare," by Mao Tse-Tung, has been translated into English by Samuel B. Griffith II. Griffith also provides a substantial introduction to the text. The book is written in the context of China's guerrilla war against Japanese occupiers; this conflict is mentioned often by Mao. In this book Mao discusses the differences between guerrilla and "orthodox" military forces, as well as how such forces can work together for a common goal. Other topics covered include propaganda and political concerns, the formation of guerrilla units, the qualities of a good guerrilla officer, discipline in a guerrilla army, and guerrilla bases.

Mao stresses the importance of speed, surprise, and initiative in guerrilla war. Among the most interesting sections of the book is a code of conduct for guerrilla fighters. Most of the book is fairly dry and matter-of-fact, but there are welcome flashes of passion, poetic imagery, and global vision that make this more than just a textbook. Translator Griffith notes that Mao's text was first published in 1937. Despite the passage of time, I believe that this is still a relevant text, and I recommend it in particular to all professional military personnel.

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31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A military classic, September 19, 2004

By	Kurt A. Johnson (Marseilles, Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: On guerrilla warfare

This book was written by Mao Zedong (1893-1976) in 1937, as he was waging a guerrilla war against the occupying army of Imperial Japan. Having already had ten years guerrilla experience, Mao was already an expert, and in this book he beautifully explains his basic strategy and tactics. He covers everything from why guerrilla activities should be integrated with conventional military activity, how guerrilla units should be organized, and how they should operate.

When first picked up this slim book, I must admit that I wasn't expecting too much. Indeed, Mao's stress on guerrilla activity as part of a larger conventional war struck me as somewhat limiting. But, as I read, I got to see the beauty and simplicity of what he was describing.

Is it hyperbole to say that this book should be compulsory reading for anyone interested in guerrilla warfare - past and present? I think not. This is a great work on the subject, and should rightly be considered a military classic. I highly - indeed, very highly - recommend this book!

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22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Learn from the master, June 10, 2004

By	Bibliophile - See all my reviews

I think Mao intended this essay to be another one of his theoretical Marxist works (Mao thought of himself as a first-class Marxist theoretician). But without question it also served as an instruction manual for his ragtag Red Army while fighting among the tortuous terrain in northwestern China, in part against Japan, in part against Chiang. Considering his success as a practitioner of guerrilla warfare, one would have to be insane to ignore this work.

I'm struck how short that chapter is on guerrilla wars in history. Mao was widely read in Chinese and world history and it would have been his style to display this knowledge in a work like this had he chosen to do so.

Perhaps Americans should not think of themselves as only at the receiving end of guerrillas. Washington learned this kind of fighting during the French and Indian Wars, and he put some of this experience to good use against a British army better armed, better trained, and greater in numbers than the Continentals. He exploited geography, made surprise raids, used mobility and patience to wear out the red coats - all hallmarks of guerrillas. The all-important Battle of Trenton was such kind of unconventional warfare: an Indian raid, essentially. But it sure got results. Regular or conventional battles like Yorktown only came later, when British impatience was at the breaking point. As Franklin had predicted, the British could and did occupy all the towns - including Philadelphia, New York, and Charleston - up and down the eastern coast but they could not hold onto them. (The comparison with Iraq is irresistible. The redcoats never numbered more than 30,000 or so men, fighting among 2.5 million American civilians. Now America has 5 times as many troops in Iraq (about 150,000) as there were redcoats in the 13 colonies. But Iraq's population is 25 million! And that's not counting foreign fighters from Iraq's neighbors. American guerrillas probably had better geography than Iraqi insurgents but the Iraqis seem more eager to commit suicide missions.)

Mao really could have done better than just cite Russian resistance to Napoleon as an example. (Never mind his other Chinese examples. for the moment.) Apart from Washington, the Spaniards also tore the Grand Armee to pieces with guerrillas - in fact, Spain's where the word came from. Lawrence of Arabia sabotaged Turkish railways in northwestern Arabia (rather like insurgents blowing up Iraq's pipelines) - to great effect. Of course, another great example of guerrilla warfare was the block-by-block, street-to-street fighting at Stalingrad. But always, to my mind, the Teutoberg forest was where guerrillas first made their greatest name in Western history. (I know little Greek history to comment further.) Octavian lost three Roman legions thanks to the German barbarians, and Rome hadn't suffered a panic quite like this since Spartacus.

Believe it or not, Mao got his inspiration not from Lenin (though he paid much lip service to him), not even from Sun Tsu (whom he read only when his military career was over), but from the classic historical novels of ancient China, especially The Water Margins and Three Kingdoms. That he didn't cite these is understandable enough: he always insisted on learning truths from facts, and novels don't provide facts though they do generate interest in the motivated reader. And Mao was nothing if not motivated.

Griffith's extraordinary credentials are not worth repeating here. His intro is excellent. He is dead right that guerrillas thrive anywhere: from the dense jungle of Vietnam to the flat deserts of Iraq. Where there are clear political objectives (knowing the difference between long- and short-term goals), men willing to fight (and die), a will to win, and lots of patience, all it takes is a little hard thinking to make the worst-equipped great guerrilla warriors. Let us learn from the master, not by regurgitating his rules, which he would never have done himself, but by thinking critically and philosophically through his logic.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars an oldie, but a goodie.
This book is a "must read". To understand the basic premise of guerrilla/revolutionary warfare.(as practiced by the Chinese & others) To understand much of post WWII conflicts,... Read more

Published 4 months ago by S. Klepper

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth reading
I may be one of the few people that read this book that has no military experience , but even without that I couldn't put this book down. I just wish it was longer.

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3.0 out of 5 stars 800 Pound Gorilla, does Guerilla
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5.0 out of 5 stars Nothing secret
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