How to Stage a Military Coup: From Planning to Execution

This book offers a partial view into the shady world of coup attempts and coup successes. The authors combine Special Forces experience with journalism, so the book is a jaunty tour through a series of selected coup events. The emphasis is predominantly on US-backed coups, and while this does mean that the authors can be criticized for an anti-US bias it's also worth remembering that virtually no US citizen has the slightest clue that the USA isn't really the home of freedom 'n democracy 'n mom 'n apple pie. As the authors show, most coups backed by the USA end up putting right-wing thugs into power who then proceed to slaughter their people; but it's all OK because US mining, logging, and petroleum interests are protected.For a supposed "how to" book, it's surprisingly light on practical details. PMCs are mentioned more or less in passing and their shortcomings adequately elucidated. But there's no chance of any would-be plotter gleaning anything of practical value from the contents of the book. Rather, it's a brief and somewhat discursive history of coups botched and otherwise, with an inserted fantasy coup by UK forces against a (presumably insufficiently pro-USA) UK government, which glosses over all the really important stuff in order to focus instead on hardware and place-names.So, all in all, not bad for a quick read but surprisingly lightweight given Connor's experience and the material now available to anyone wanting to write a proper book on coups. Again, however, given how very little US citizens know about their country's complicity in putting people like Saddam Hussein into power, it's a worthwhile read for these glimpses alone. Also worth reading in the same vein is Tim Weiner's book Legacy of Ashes, that does an excellent job of detailing the CIA's involvement in a great many unsavory (and almost always totally counter-productive) illegal activities and coups around the world since its inception.

A slight and populist book. If you really were trying stage a coup, you who would be much better off with Edward Luttwak's  Coup d'État: A Practical Handbook .

Interesting vignettes about a coup in the UK mixed in with the rest of the book. Too bad the UK story doesn't complete.

There is a lot less theory than expected from the title, and a lot more of short snippets of stories that don't actually tell you much if anything.

I probably should have browsed other comments before clicking the buy button for this book. Technically I found this book to be banal and the witty style falls flat on its face. Disappointing and I almost certainly will be passing this book along to clear up shelf space.

Great book

Great book

this book is well written, extremely well researched & has a very good mix of humor to add to all the dry facts. The only downfall to this book is that it fails to mention on a few occasions, Americas part played in some of the events. It also doesnt mention at all alleged the coup in America in which JFK, was assassinated. Definitely worth reading.

Staging a coup is harder than it looks. There's an awful lot of planning and admin to do before you pull the trigger, and the coordination necessary is complex and likely to be discovered by your government. A cultural coup looks easier to pull off, at least in western societies.

This book was captivating and informative, that’s all i wanted from it, and its exactly what i got!Thank you!

Do you want to stage a military coup? You need this book.Do you want to understand how to prevent a military coup? You need this book.Interesting and absorbing, it's written with verve and humor.

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