Kilcullen provides a a fascinating view of the problem of insurgency (which has gained prominence in the last two decades) from the perspective of an army officer, a policy adviser and a theoretician. While in my youth I had read classic works such as[b:Defeating Communist Insurgency: Experiences from Malaya and Vietnam|3116892|Defeating Communist Insurgency Experiences from Malaya and Vietnam|Robert G.K. Thompson|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1330083283s/3116892.jpg|3148212] and [b:Counter-Insurgency Operations: Techniques of Guerrilla Warfare|10477576|Counter-Insurgency Operations Techniques of Guerrilla Warfare |Julian Paget|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1297831789s/10477576.jpg|4152690], these are now quite dated. The nature of insurgency has changed since the 1950s, 60s and 70s. Communism has been replaced by an Islamist Jihad, technology and economic development are quite different. Thus, Kilcullen provided a contemporary update - some things were quite new and other familiar.

But in a couple of ways, the book was disappointing. It was a collection of previously written articles collected in a single volume, with notes to update them to 2009. And it was dating quite quickly. The discussion of the Al Qaeda led global jihad seems dated since we have seen the rise and apparent defeat of ISIS. ( )

David Kilcullen is one of the world's foremost experts on guerrilla warfare. His vision of war has been enormously influential, through his service as senior counterinsurgency adviser to General David Petraeus during the Surge in Iraq, as special adviser to the United States Secretary of State, and as a current adviser to the United States, British, Australian and other allied governments. This brief book distills that vision in an easily readable and practical format, through a completely revised and updated edition of his 2006 cult classic "The Twenty-Eight Articles", a field practitioner's guide to the fundamentals of counterinsurgency, which has become the essential handbook for generations of allied military officers and civilian officials in Iraq and Afghanistan, has become part of the course of instruction at military academies and counterinsurgency schools worldwide, and has been translated into Arabic and Spanish. This edition presents a fully updated and expanded version, including a new introduction, annotated tactical case studies, and an appendix on the key principles of the hugely successful Surge campaign of 2007 in Iraq. Issued as a rugged, pocket-sized field handbook, this modern classic will be an indispensable aid to a new generation of field officers, as well as a concise and accessible primer for students and the general reader. ( )