Hearts And Minds: A People's History of Counterinsurgency

(Paperback)

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Since 2006, counterinsurgency has been the guiding doctrine of the U.S. military establishment. The first book of its kind, Hearts and Minds meets counterinsurgency proponents on their own playing field, retelling the history of counterinsurgency from the perspective of the populations whose hearts and minds have been fought over since the end of the World War II. The book details not only the real socio-economic sources of discontent behind insurgencies, but also the negative impact of counterinsurgency programs on everyday people. A key resource for the debates on military policy.

Reviews

"Counterinsurgency is a tactical phoenix, dying only to rise again, ever-ready to win hearts and minds for the American empire. This essential volume makes it possible to understand the past and prepare for the next time the siren song of counterinsurgency is sung."
Marilyn Young

"Hannah Gurman has assembled a groundbreaking volume filled with fresh perspectives and revealing insights. If you want to understand Americas recent debacles in Iraq and Afghanistan, Hearts and Minds is essential reading.
Nick Turse, author of Kill Anything That Moves: The Real American War in Vietnam

"Essential reading for anyone who wants to see beyond the illusions about counterinsurgency warfare that the U.S. and British governments and media have sold their people. These histories show that, despite decades of occupations and well-funded and well-lauded strategic thinking, the hearts and minds of the occupied have remained beyond their militaries ken and control."
Catherine Lutz, author of The Bases of Empire and a contributor to The Counter-Counterinsurgency Manual

"With America creeping toward military intervention in the Syrian civil war, Hannah Gurmans volume comes at an opportune time. While generals offer up moralistic bromides about protecting foreign populations at the barrel of an American gun, Hearts and Minds lays bare the brutal and destructive truth behind American military activism in the world."
Colonel Gian Gentile

Author Bio

Hannah Gurman is an assistant professor at New York Universitys Gallatin School of Individualized Study. She writes on the politics, economics, and culture of U.S. diplomacy and military conflict for Salon, the Huffington Post, and Foreign Policy in Focus, among other publications. She is the author of The Dissent Papers: The Voices of Diplomats in the Cold War and Beyond. She lives in New York City.