Robert B. (Robert Brown) Asprey

This is a fascinating history. We witness the early years and rise of Napoleon (to the year 1805) while having a front-row seat for the Reign of Terror and its implosion and not-so-slow return to a (forever changed) monarchy. One wonders how in the world Napoleon learned to be the great general he was. Was it really just his voracious reading of history? A great irony is Napoleon's mastery of land war coupled with his ineffectiveness in coaxing his admirals to do anything on water. Imagine the outcome if Fate had given France both Napoleon for land and Nelson for the sea.

Most of the material covers the World War II underground and the Indochinese wars. Includes material on guerrilla warfare in the American Revolution, Francis Marion, the Swamp Fox, Peninsular War, Philippines war, Boer war, Mexican revolution (Pancho Villa, Emiliano Zapata), Lettow-Vorbeck in East Africa (World War I), Lawrence of Arabia, Irish Republican Army, Mao Tse-tung, OSS, Ho Chi Minh, Vo Nguyen Giap, William Slim, Orde Wingate, Domino theory, Viet Minh, Greek Civil War, Mau Mau, Jomo Kenyatta, Palestine, Cyprus, Algeria, Fidel Castro, Viet Cong, Tet Offensive, and many other conflicts.