Now Reading….
The Profession by Steven Pressfield
Tequila Junction: 4th Generation Counterinsurgency by H. John Poole
Steve’s novel The Profession I have mentioned previously, but I confess that I am puzzled by the choice of book jacket on Tequila Junction, which looks somewhat like a children’s illustrated guide to COIN in 1980’s El Salvador. H. John Poole is a respected veteran and tactical expert and Tequila Junction carries the warm endorsements of General Anthony Zinni and William Lind. Maybe his grandson drew it? Odd.
In any event, small unit tactics are not a subject I pretend to know much about, so it will remedy a gap in my knowledge base.
July 15th, 2011 at 11:59 pm
Zen, I’m about a third of the way through The Profession. Pressfield’s prediction of large merc groups I believe is spot on. Well written with a good story—if I weren’t so busy, I’d knock it out in a couple of sittings. Also, Poole’s other books have rather primitive covers—this comes as no surprise.
July 16th, 2011 at 4:58 pm
The covers of Poole’s books are all like that. Weird. His books are full of interesting stuff, but they seem to be unedited compendiums of stuff he has dug up. Always interesting, if not always coherent. I will have to get the new Pressfield one.
July 16th, 2011 at 7:46 pm
Glad you said that Lex; I have two of Poole’s books and they have nuggets here and there, but overall see a bit incoherent—-that said, I’m still glad I have them.
July 18th, 2011 at 8:22 pm
Finished The Profession this morning; a very good read, with lots of twists and turns in the plot. Pressfield certainly didn’t end up where I thought about half-way in. That said, I do hope Pressfield is wrong about the ubiquity of mercs in our future, but I suspect he is right. There is a speech toward the end by the antagonist that makes a pretty compelling case in favor. That said, a very good and entertaining read. Highly recommended.