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Shadow Warfare: The History of America's Undeclared Wars Kindle Edition

by Larry Hancock (Author), Stuart Wexler (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 16 ratings
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Contrary to its contemporary image, deniable covert operations are not something new. Such activities have been ordered by every president and every administration since the Second World War. In many instances covert operations have relied on surrogates, with American personnel involved only at a distance, insulated by layers of deniability.

Shadow Warfare traces the evolution of these covert operations, detailing the tactics and tools used from the Truman era through those of the contemporary Obama Administrations. It also explores the personalities and careers of many of the most noted shadow warriors of the past sixty years, tracing the decade–long relationship between the CIA and the military.

Shadow Warfare presents a balanced, non–polemic exploration of American secret warfare, detailing its patterns, consequences and collateral damage and presenting its successes as well as failures. Shadow Wars explores why every president from Franklin Roosevelt on, felt compelled to turn to secret, deniable military action. It also delves into the political dynamic of the president's relationship with Congress and the fact that despite decades of combat, the U.S. Congress has chosen not to exercise its responsibility to declare a single state of war – even for extended and highly visible combat.
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  1. Print length
    624 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Counterpoint
  5. Publication date
    February 24, 2014
  6. File size
    1584 KB
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Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

All American presidents since Franklin Roosevelt have ordered clandestine military actions. Hancock and Wexler investigate why commanders-in-chief find secrecy appealing. The U.S. sponsorship of the operations detailed in this tome was concealed in most cases to avoid political controversy within the U.S. or within a country hosting the covert program. The authors cite FDR’s authorization to create an American air force in China—the Flying Tigers—as a template; the president decided the action was necessary but impolitic to reveal to the public. So it went with secret Cold War military operations in Tibet, Indochina, Guatemala, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Afghanistan. So it continues in the conflict with radical Islam. Deniability as a feature of covert warfare parallels the authors’ attention to tactical methods, such as the use of front companies, which may interest readers of intelligence history, while those concerned with the constitutionality of this subject will be sated with discussion of its legal aspects. Because their extensive research is wrapped in politically neutral prose, Hancock and Wexler can engage a range of readers with a controversial topic. --Gilbert Taylor

About the Author

Larry Hancock is considered one of the top investigative researchers in the areas of intelligence and national security. He is the author of four books, including Nexus: The CIA and Political Assassination, and coauthor of The Awful Grace of God, a study of religious terrorism, white supremacy, and the murder of Martin Luther King Jr. Hancock's books have received endorsements and praise from former House Select Committee of Investigations staff members and the former Joint Historian for the State Department and Central Intelligence Agency. He lives in Oklahoma.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00H6UOCS8
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Counterpoint (February 24, 2014)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ February 24, 2014
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1584 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 624 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 16 ratings

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  1. Stuart Wexler

    Stuart Wexler

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  2. Larry Hancock

    Larry Hancock

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    About the author:

    Larry Hancock brings his formal training in history and cultural anthropology to his research and writing on Cold War history and national security subjects. A graduate of the University of New Mexico, he earned is BA with honors, majoring in history, cultural anthropology and education. Following service in the United States Air Force, he pursued a career in technical education, computer/communications, and technology marketing.

    Larry then returned to his long term interest in historical research. Known as a "document geek", he researched and published several collections of CIA, FBI and military documents prior to beginning his writing efforts. His document work led to his becoming a board member of the Mary Ferrell Foundation, a major online interactive history archive. With a dozen books in print, his works include an exploration of long term patterns in covert action and deniable warfare ("Shadow Warfare" and “In Denial”), the effectiveness of national command authority and command and control practices ("Surprise Attack"), and the political assassinations of the 1960’s (“Someone Would Have Talked”, “Killing King” and “The Awful Grace of God”) His most recent book is “Tipping Point / The Conspiracy That Murdered President John Kennedy”.

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Customer reviews

4.8 out of 5 stars
4.8 out of 5
16 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

David S. Brown
5.0 out of 5 stars Best Exposition of the reality of American Foreign Policy--A clear MUST READ
Reviewed in the United States on August 13, 2014
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Shadow Warfare

This highly readable history is written tightly and with no obvious agenda. The reader is exposed, without pejorative, to the very real political pressures on those with their hands on America's national security state policy, overt and covert. Readers are forced to judge for themselves, but that said, there really are no easy answers. The suspension of the rule of law and moral precepts are clearly the core issues. This work reveals that the unstated assumption of all who hold the reigns of America power is that law and morality must not limit the defense of the supposed interests of the nation, whether defense, access to resources, protection of investments or regime changes to gain supportive governments; and that going covert effectively limits the political downside of aggressive foreign policy-- covert is therefore the common choice of our Presidents.

Author Chalmers Johnson is straight forward in judging negatively the clear adverse impacts of covert operations on accountability, on the rule of law, on the targeted people, on the innocent victims, on democracy and self determination, and, as he asserts, America standing and resulting blowback against America, but Hancock and Wexler set forth accurate, documented history, in true context, and mostly leave the judgment up to the reader, and ultimately, to time and history. The good news is that future historians will have access to a balanced and accurate history in Shadow Warfare, a must read for all interested in the vagaries of American empire, and whether Constitutional rule of law will survive the tampering we Americans have come to accept as the norm.
6 people found this helpful
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Mark Shaw, Burlingame California
5.0 out of 5 stars An Important Read - A True Slice of History
Reviewed in the United States on March 16, 2014
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As the author of "The Poison Patriarch: How the Betrayals of Joseph P. Kennedy Caused the Assassination of JFK," I was most interested to read this book especially the sections dealing with John and Robert Kennedy. Clearly, Larry Hancock's superb research and gifted writing skills provide insight into the Kennedy thought process concerning how they approached what the author calls "secret, deniable military action" with focus on Cuba and the ill-founded and ultimately disastrous Bay of Pigs operation. And "deny" is the byword here since neither John nor Robert wanted to take any responsibility for the fiasco, one that took the lives of brave rebels determined to topple a tyrant.

But that is only part of the story Hancock superbly weaves in "Shadow Warfare." Most compelling is how he provides insight into the Vietnam War as never before. All in all, this book is a true slice of history and for those who want to know the truth, a must read.
9 people found this helpful
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Stephen Little
5.0 out of 5 stars The great majority of Americans would be astounded by the material ...
Reviewed in the United States on August 29, 2014
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The great majority of Americans would be astounded by the material in this book. It should be a textbook in every college history class. I will add my five stars to the others.
6 people found this helpful
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Marlie
5.0 out of 5 stars This book is crucial in understanding US foreign policy.
Reviewed in the United States on December 6, 2014
As a Masters student of US history and politics in the UK, specialising in US foreign policy, I have to say that this book should be required reading for anyone studying, or interested in these subjects. The documentation and research contained in the book is outstanding and the author should be congratulated on this feat. The book doesn't theorise or takes political sides, which is very refreshing. Instead, Larry lays out why and how the US tuned to covert warfare as a means of combatting regimes they saw as unfriendly. Even JFK, who, speaking as an admirer of Kennedy, I feel is sometimes overly mythologised as not being willing to resort to the same tactics as other, less favourable Presidents. The book goes beyond partisanship to detail how every President since WW2 has turned to covert, or 'shadow', warfare, whilst at the same time being able to plausibly deny that the US was involved in operations that would be unpopular at home, and criticised abroad. US involvement in the Guatemala coup in 1954, which was strongly denied by Eisenhower at the time, is a prime example. This type of history is not usually included in standard history texts, as I have discovered, and is often missing even from university level classes on US foreign policy. Larry included many operations that are virtually unheard of, such as clandestine warfare in Tibet in 1954, and which continued for nearly twenty years. Larry's knowledge of military and intelligence operations is second to none, and the book also gives a thorough explanation of not only the evolution of the national security state post 1947, and the National Security Act, but the growth and development of what he terms the 'covert warfare infrastructure.' What I also found extremely interesting is the way in which the President's relationship with Congress is examined, and how the book notes that Congress has not used it's power to declare war since WW2, but instead has also preferred to go along the shadow warfare route, for reasons which are discussed in the book. This book is one of the best books on US history that has been published in recent years, and anyone who is interested in obtaining a better understanding of how the US functions, whether you are American, or not.
9 people found this helpful
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Alan Dale
5.0 out of 5 stars Should Be Required Reading On Undeclared and Covert Warfare
Reviewed in the United States on March 22, 2014
In 1947, historian Charles A. Beard referred to the foreign policy of Presidents Roosevelt and Truman by coining the phrase "perpetual war for perpetual peace." Since that time, the Federation of American Scientists has cataloged nearly 200 military incursions in which the United States has been the aggressor. Shadow Warfare is a brilliantly constructed and meticulously documented history of deniable warfare and its extraordinary evolution since the era of "declared" war. Covert action assumes that the forces involved can't be associated with the sponsoring government. Cold War era covert warfare is not unique to the United States of America, but America's embrace of, and increasing reliance upon, these types of operations and the agencies which administer their facilitation, represents a fundamental shift in the manner by which the government conducts its foreign policy.

Congress has not passed a Declaration of War since 1941. Shadow Warfare by Larry Hancock and Stuart Wexler tells the story of when and how the United States moved to deniable action.

Highly recommended.
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Top reviews from other countries

Mervyn Hagger
4.0 out of 5 stars GOOD REFERENCE BOOK
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 24, 2018
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It's good as far as it goes and it if you are interested in this subject you should have this book on your reference shelves.
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