""The guerrilla fights the war of the flea, and his military enemy suffers the dog's disadvantages: too much to defend; too small, ubiquitous and agile an enemy to come to grips with." With these words, Robert Taber began a revolution in conventional military thought that has dramatically impacted the way armed conflicts have been fought since the book's initial publication in 1965. Whether ideological, nationalistic, or religious, all guerrilla insurgencies use similar tactics to advance their cause. War of the Flea's timeless analysis of the guerrilla fighter's means and methods provides a fundamental resource for any reader seeking to understand this distinct form of warfare and the challenge it continues to present to today's armed forces in the Philippines, Colombia, and elsewhere. This new edition contains a foreword by Bard E. O'Neill, the director of studies of insurgency and revolution at the National War College." -- From the book jacket.

Originally published: New York : L. Stuart, 1965. Includes index. "Originally published: New York : L. Stuart, 1965"--T.p. verso. On SWCS Professional Reading List 07/2006.

Wind of revolution --Popular will as the key to strategy -- Confrontation of the haves and the have-nots -- Fallacies of counterinsurgency -- Guerrilla war as an extension of politics -- Cracks in the armor of the modern state -- War of the flea -- Political and military objectives -- Creating "the climate of collapse." -- Organization of insurgent forces -- Guevara on guerrilla war: the base -- Inception and evolution of an insurgency -- Transition to civil war -- Alternative solutions -- Cuban example -- Protracted war -- Popular forces versus regular armies -- Guerrilla as missionary -- Mao Tse-tung on the war of the flea -- Lessons of China -- Colonial war and the French experience -- Strategy and tactics of Vo Nguyen Giap -- How the Vietminh won in Indochina -- Political character of the Second Indochina War -- American role -- Expansion of the war -- Outlook -- Wars of national liberation and their cost -- Irish "troubles" and the role of the Black and Tans -- Terrorism in Israel -- Rebellion in North Africa -- General Grivas on guerrilla war in Cyprus -- Political uses of terrorism -- Errors of British strategy -- Failures in the war of the flea -- Magsaysay and the Huks in the Philippines -- Price of British victory in Malaya -- Why the Communists lost in Greece -- Sun Tzu on The Art of War -- Principles of guerrilla strategy and tactics -- Terrain as a determining factor -- Guerrilla war in urban areas -- Character of the guerrilla -- Guerrilla movements in the Third World -- Revolutionary base -- Outlook for the United States -- Proposals for a new American foreign policy in Latin America.