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Beating Goliath is relevant to both America s current wars and to developing capabilities for future wars. Record has given us a thoughtful, well-researched, historically based, look at a problem all too timely Beating Goliath: Why Insurgencies Win stands as one of the best of the recent books on the evolving nature of insurgencies and the challenges they present. This is a book well worth reading highly recommended. Record's well-chosen case studies highlight the common characteristics of successful insurgencies. . . .His analysis is persuasive and makes for a sobering read. This book is highly recommended to any national-level elected political officials, military personnel of all ranks, civil servants dealing with foreign policy or the Department of Defense and to any citizen who wants to know more than the popular media can give you. This is an excellent work. This impressive book deserves a wide audience. Undergraduates and general readers will find this book to be an excellent introduction to the topic. The high level of analysis also makes this book essential reading for war-fighting practitioners and counterinsurgency specialists. Record's Beating Goliath is a book everyone should read. Its insights into US public opinion and strategic culture, its analysis of the current US war in Iraq and its conclusions cogently summing up the policy-relevant literature on asymmetrical conflict outcomes and counter-insurgency strategy are among the best and most accessible of any of these subjects in print. This reflective critique, illuminated by historical insight, offers much for general readers, specialists, and policy makers to consider. The United States would be better off if more people read Jeffrey Record's insightful analysis especially people in power. His analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the American way of war is by itself worth the price of the book. Beating Goliath is short, clear, interesting, and practical that is, everything a book designed to change minds should be. It is also full of arguments and conclusions that will surprise many readers and would greatly improve America's decisions about when and how to commit military force. This is a valuable book for military professionals and the intelligent non-expert public alike. Beating Goliath is a small book that packs a big wallop. Jeffrey Record's explanation as to why insurgencies pose such a daunting challenge for powerful nations especially for the United States is succinct, incisive, and compelling. Through solid research and astute analysis, Dr. Record demonstrates that the United States is 'not particularly good' at precisely the type of armed conflict it expects to encounter in coming decades counterinsurgency. This idea has immense repercussions for future American strategy. All policymakers, scholars, and citizens concerned with U.S. security should grapple with the implications of Beating Goliath.

Through solid research and astute analysis, Dr. Record demonstrates that the United States is 'not particularly good' at precisely the type of armed conflict it expects to encounter in coming decades counterinsurgency. This idea has immense repercussions for future American strategy. All policymakers, scholars, and citizens concerned with U.S. security should grapple with the implications of Beating Goliath.

"""Record has given us a thoughtful, well-researched, historically based, look at a problem all too timely...Beating Goliath: Why Insurgencies Win stands as one of the best of the recent books on the evolving nature of insurgencies and the challenges they present.""--Journal of Military History-- (3/6/2008 12:00:00 AM) ""Record's Beating Goliath is a book everyone should read. Its insights into US public opinion and strategic culture, its analysis of the current US war in Iraq and its conclusions--cogently summing up the policy-relevant literature on asymmetrical conflict outcomes and counter-insurgency strategy--are among the best and most accessible of any of these subjects in print.""--Survival-- (11/8/2007 12:00:00 AM) ""Record's well-chosen case studies highlight the common characteristics of successful insurgencies. . . . His analysis is persuasive and makes for a sobering read.""--Military Review-- (12/20/2007 12:00:00 AM) ""This book is highly recommended to any national-level elected political officials, military personnel of all ranks, civil servants dealing with foreign policy or the Department of Defense and to any citizen who wants to know more than the popular media can give you. This is an excellent work.""--Special Warfare-- (12/7/2007 12:00:00 AM) ""This impressive book deserves a wide audience. Undergraduates and general readers will find this book to be an excellent introduction to the topic. The high level of analysis also makes this book essential reading for war-fighting practitioners and counterinsurgency specialists.""--Proceedings-- (11/12/2007 12:00:00 AM) ""This is a book well worth reading . . . highly recommended.""--Choice-- (3/6/2008 12:00:00 AM)"

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Jeffrey Record is a professor of strategy at the Air War College in Montgomery, Alabama. He is the author of Bounding the Global War on Terrorism (2004), Dark Victory: America’s Second War against Iraq(2004), and Beating Goliath: Why Insurgencies Win (Potomac Books, Inc., 2007). He served in Vietnam as a pacification adviser and received his doctorate from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. He lives in Atlanta.

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