Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife

Invariably, armies are accused of preparing to fight the previous war. Here, Lieutenant Colonel John A. Nagl—a veteran of both Operation Desert Storm and the conflict in Iraq—considers the crucial question of how armies adapt to changing circumstances during the course of conflicts for which they are initially unprepared. Through the use of archival sources and interviews with participants in both engagements, Nagl compares the development of British counterinsurgency doctrine and practice in the Malayan Emergency from 1948 to 1960 with what developed in America’s Vietnam War from 1950 to 1975. With a new preface reflecting on the author’s combat experience in Iraq, Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife is a timely examination of the lessons of previous counterinsurgency campaigns that will be hailed by both military leaders and interested civilians.