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'.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #323785 in Books
• Published on: 2000-09-01
• Original language: Mandarin Chinese
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 128 pages

Customer Reviews

A military classic
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 I 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!

lefties'll love it
The mere fact that the author of this book managed to kill more of his own people than he did the 'enemy' perhaps says more about what he knew of guerilla warfare than this book ever could.
Left wing muppets (I.E anyone who ends a review with "I thank you") will obviously love it, Mao, after all;, is their hero no matter who he killed or subsequently supressed; even if it is those poor unfortunate working classes they are always going on about this book in short, is cr*p. Certainly you will find that very few of his ideas are of use in modern combat or politics and that includes China. This really is more for aging hippies than anyone else.

On Guerilla Warfare
This book is an exposure of open human emotion. It represents the struggle of class against class. There is no contention surrounding this book, it merely describes the instrumentation of the working class struggle to survive.

I thank you,

Melanie Roine