From the Barrel of a Gun: A History of Guerrilla, Revolutionary and Counter-Insurgency Warfare, from the Romans to the Present

by John Ellis

Guerrilla warfare came into prominence after World War II and the victories of Mao Tse-Tung in China and of Ho Chi Minh and General Giap against the Americans in Vietnam. More recently, Soviet failure in Afghanistan, Israeli experiences with the Palestinians and in Lebanon, and numerous other insurgencies in places as far apart as Angola, Cambodia, Eritrea, Kashmir, Kurdistan, Morocco, Namibia and Timor have all kept the concept of guerrilla war in the public eye. However, there has been little sustained attempt to trace this mode of conflict right back to its known beginnings in Roman times.
The vital historical perspective is presented in this complete overview of guerrilla warfare, covering the periods of guerrilla resistance to the Romans, of irregular operations in medieval times, border warfare with the Ottomans in the Balkans, Indian warfare in North America, the struggle against Napoleon, numerous nineteenth-century colonial wars, and countless other examples that pre-date the recent and better-known 'wars of liberation'.
This revised and updated edition of John Ellis's Short History of Guerrilla Warfare includes a rewritten, expanded section on Vietnam, and succinct accounts of all the major guerrilla wars in the last two decades. As a result of this further research, Ellis presents new conclusions about the nature and role of this type of warfare in today's world.

Genres: Military Fiction, History, Nonfiction, War

288 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1995

About the author

John Ellis was born in Bradford and educated at the Universities of Sussex and Manchester. He was a lecturer in the latter's department of Military Studies. His books include The Sharp End: The Fighting Man in World War II; The Social History of the Machine Gun, Eye-Deep in Hell, an account of trench life in the Great War; Cassino: The Hollow Victory; and Brute Force: Allied Strategy and Tactics in the Second World War.

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