This is a legendary work by the famed Swiss expert on guerrilla warfare, Major H. von Dach. Survivalists have rediscovered this important study on resistance and underground operations, some making it the keystone of their libraries. Well-written and illustrated with easy-to-understand drawings, Total Resistance analyzes and overviews the techniques needed to overcome an invading force, formation of guerrilla units, weapons, food and medical considerations, ambushes, sabotage and much more.
There are many unpleasant fates which might befall the civilian population during war, or as Vladimir Putin prefers to call it, a special military operation.
In the year 757, during the siege of Suiyang, the Chinese came up with a pragmatic solution to the problematic locals, which also addressed the army’s dwindling food supplies. You’ve guessed it. Cannibalism. As described in the New Book of Tang:
After the city was besieged for a long time, in the beginning, the horses were eaten. When there were no more horses, they turned to the women, the old, and the weak. 30,000 people in total were eaten. People knew their death was close, and nobody rebelled. When the city fell, only 400 people were left.
Don’t let this happen to you.
Total Resistance teaches you how to make yourself such a royal pain in the arse, your enemies will leave your country alone, and go pick on someone else. Even children can participate in the effort, and make themselves a bloody nuisance, which won’t be difficult, because they already are – it’s a question of redirecting energy.
From organizing the resistance movement and general guerrilla tactics, to ambushing enemy vehicles, and tips on behaviour in labour camps, this book is perhaps the most comprehensive, concise and practical set of instructions, I’ve seen. The author writes in a calm, impersonal tone, with little to no sugar-coating.
Much of the information remains perfectly applicable and relevant. You should probably read this book.
Read for the Book Riot Read Harder 2017 challenge: Read a book about war.
This is a great manual for guerellia warfare written by the Swiss about how to act if you should find your country occupied by the Nazis. What I particularly like is that it acknowledges that not everyone can be awesome guerrilla warriors and dedicates a chapter to passive resistance. If you've worked much in an office, you'll recognize a lot of it and see how you can be the most passive aggressive person you can be.
Únor 2022, Rusko zaútočilo na Ukrajinu, ze zpráv mi pomalu haraší, ale na hacker news se objevil odkaz na tenhle starší poklad. Ale jak říkali doktoři na psychické zdraví, je potřeba ulevit úzkosti. Velmi zajímavé, snad nebudu nikdy potřeboval. Vhodný doplněk k SAS příručka jak přežít, kde se boj pochopitelně do knihy pro veřejnost vůbec nedostal.
Dozvěděl jsem se dost věcí, které by mě samotného nepadly. V Kyjevě se dnes bohužel můžou hodit. No a musím se přiznat, že jsem si v duchu zmapoval svoje široké okolí, který transformátor by bylo vhodné zapálit, který sloup vysokého napětí shodit...
As others have said, much of the information is quite dated (massive focus on railways and telephone lines) but the specificity was refreshing and I think the later makes any book vulnerable to the former. The other minor annoyance was that it was obviously written with only one very specific enemy in mind, but while this does define the assumptions made I thought it was fairly easy to separate what would be universally applicable from what wasn't.
Even writing off the majority of the dated info there is still quite a lot left in this short book, and the focus on morale, political propaganda, logistics, and behavior struck me as rather timeless.
_ «Мала війна — це спосіб боротьби тих, хто не визнає себе переможеним: війну затягають у часі, бо для бійця руху опору конфлікт завершується не програною битвою, а щойно з моментом його смерті.»
_ Еталонна навчальна книжка про військове мистецтво на тему партизанської війни.
Цікаво у місцях загальних правил. Такі речі справді треба знати кожному, особливо у часі війни. А детальні карти і плани нападів будуть цікаві бійцям та майбутнім командирам.
Very informative little handbook on guerilla warfare. Gives great insight into the types of activities and tactics of guerilla resistance under enemy occupation.
Книга написана у форматі довідника. Хоч більшість практичних порад, в силу часу, вже не є настільки актуальними, втім я би рекомендував до читання абсолютно всім цивільним українцям. Втім в війні є речі які не помінялись і навряд не поміняються ще довго, ось декілька: - Опір це не завжди партизанщина; - При повній окупації, опір дасть вам більше шансів залишитися живим ніж в випадку коли ви схиляєтесь до колабораціонізму - Колабораціонізм в 99% в всіх війнах закінчувався смертю. В певний момент ви станете загрозою для окупанта, ну або ж вас чекає вбивство зі сторони руху опору
I have heard of, and planned to read. this book for a long time. As other reviewers have said, it is very dated and full of assumptions, but enjoyable none the less. If you want to defeat an invasion of Switzerland in 1960 though, it is a must read!