How to Stage a Military Coup: From Planning to Execution

by David Hebditch, Ken Connor

The coup remains the single most common form of power change throughout the world. The government being targeted by a coup attempt could be democratically elected, a long-standing dictatorship, or nothing more than a junta put in place by the previous month’s coup. The motivation will always be lust for power, patriotism, greed or exploitation. It is usually a combination of power, greed and exploitation disguised as patriotism. How to Stage a Military Coup explores these violent and often bloody appropriations of authority, alongside the political, military, and social conditions out of which they arise. Taking into account factors such as timing, media control, popular support, and government organizational structure, and by drawing on examples of coups from all over the world, both failed and successful, the authors reveal exactly what it takes to carry out a successful government take-over.

Genres: History, Politics, Nonfiction, Military Fiction, War, Reference

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 10, 2005

Reviews

[Maru Kun · Rating 4 out of 5]

UPDATE: How Not To Stage a Military Coup

Having read this book I would give Donald Trump and his enablers in the Republican party or on right wing media 1/10 for their attempted coup. Here is a breakdown of the marks

PLANNING
Don't confuse plotting with planning.

Plotting is: "...we are going to storm the Capitol and Stop the Steal! Be there at 2pm and stand by. We will free the country from socialism!...".

Planning is: "...Team A comprised of Patriots Alpha, Bravo and Charlie carrying two automatic rifles, three handguns, knives and wrist ties will enter by the third floor west window at 14:26 and secure the advanced base inside Ted Cruz's office at 14:35..." and so on.

0/2 for planning the coup


PROPAGANDA
Before you capture the Capitol, capture the TV stations. Before you capture the TV Stations, capture the radio stations.

A cute, blonde Fox News reporter announcing to the world that democracy had been restored to America by brave patriots rescuing the Capitol from Antifa Democrats about to make American a socialist hell would have gone down very well. Keep anyone not very photogenic away from the camera.

And don't forget, Trump already had Facebook and Twitter on his side, so he was two thirds of the way there beforehand!

0/2 for control of the organs of state propaganda


DEFENDING THE CONSTITUTION
It's always about defending the constitution even when it clearly is nothing of the sort. This is the message that you want playing on the airwaves from the first moment the coup starts. "Stop the Steal" is obviously nonsense, but it's a decent slogan.

1/2 for "defending the constitution" (ha ha)


THE MILITARY
You need at least some of the army on side. In more coup-prone parts of the world this would be the "disgruntled Colonels" (it's mainly Colonels passed over for promotion that start coups).

In America you might have trouble finding enough disgruntled colonels, so your next best bet would be Christian Fundamentalist Generals who believe Trump was chosen by God to restore American greatness. There are a few of those around. You don't need the whole of the army on your side, just enough to look good on camera and make the rest hesitate before starting a civil war.

And as a PS, Trump didn't even realize that the Washington DC National Guard was under his control. What a wasted opportunity that was!

0/2 for co-opting the military


SHOW TRIALS
You want your opponents on trial, in jail or dead by the end of the first day. Although plans were made to set off a few bombs, hold hostage members of congress and murder a few Democrats these plans came to nothing in the end.

0/2 for violent suppression of the political opposition


FINAL MARKS
So overall 1/10 FAIL - need to try better next time .

And by the way, when you storm the Capitol you don't have to stick to the paths marked out by the red ropes. The Bolsheviks didn't care about no-entry signs when they stormed the Winter Palace.


#########################################
It’s great fun leaving this book on prominent display in your office and seeing how people react.

Some people will see it as a joke, flick through it and ask when are you going to stage your “boardroom” coup. Of course, you say nothing.

Some people will take the book more seriously and ask whether it has any good advice on executing a complex project with many critical inter-dependencies, just like a coup. It has some great advice in this regard. Of course, you don’t tell them what it is.

Some people will inspect the book carefully out of the corner of their eye, staying silent. Later they might drop by and pretend to idly flick through it while you’re out getting a coffee or sandwiches.

Those are the people you have to watch like a hawk.

[Ina Cawl · Rating 5 out of 5]

اسم كتاب :-كيف تقوم بانقلاب عسكري-من تخطيط الي تنفيذ
كتاب :- كين كونور و ديفيد هيربديتش
تاريخ اصدار كتاب:-يوليو ٣٠ ،٢٠٠٨
قيمة كتاب:- ١٣$

يتناول هذا كتاب تاريخ الانقلابات الحديثه و كيف ينجح الانقلاب و يفشل و يعلمك كيف تخطط وتنجح في عمل الانقلاب العسكري.
يتكون هذا كتاب من عشرة فصول
١-الجيش في السياسه
٢-الهدف والرساله من الانقلاب العسكري
٣-التخطيط لافضل انقلاب
٤-تجنيد و تدريب و تكتيك
٥-اخفاء عملية انقلابك حتي اخر لحظه
٦-كلمه من ممؤلين و مؤيدين الانقلاب
٧-جزر غريبه في اماكن استراتيجيه
٨-الانقلاب الذي لم ينجح
٩-الاستعانه بمصادر خارجيه لمساعدتك في الانقلاب
١٠-اين بعد ذالك؟ من تالي؟
بقراءة هذا كتاب ستنعلم كثير من فن الانقلاب العسكري و ستعرف لماذا نجح الانقلاب في مصر و فشل اليوم في تركيا
في نهايه انصح جميغ من يهتم في شئون عسكريه او من يحلم بعمل انقلاب ان يقرا هذا كتاب لانو فيه كثير من فوائد لكيفية انجاح انقلابك عسكري على طغمه الفاسده مع انو متاكد سيتم حظر هذا كتاب من بعض دول العربيه.

[S G · Rating 5 out of 5]

All about coups. This book is 4/5ths history lesson and 1/5th fictional account of a coup staging in London. The authors are former SAS soldiers. It's a fast read, and it's kept rather light. More of a journalistic style than a history book. Overall, I'd recommend it to anyone who likes military history or political intrigue.

It's also (currently) free on Amazon for the Kindle.

[Ármin Scipiades · Rating 1 out of 5]

So, I saw the title somewhere after the failed coup in Turkey, and the premise looked interesting. Well, it's a bit crap.

First off, this isn't a history book, and generally has zero scientific merit. Its factual accuracy is disputable: every single interesting factoid I cared to check out turned out to be grossly exaggarated. It's sensationalist, journalistic (following the worst traditions of British tabloid journalism, including the horrible, horrible puns ("Enough Sa'id", really? "Guinea Foul", seriously?)), and generally prefers a cool story over dry facts. The footnotes are just for show, the bibliography consists of popular stuff. And Michael Moore, wtf.

Worse, at least worse for me, the book shows zero compassion towards anybody, maintaining a scornful smirk all the time. "We're in the know, you and I," the book says, "we're not as stupid as all these people, heh." And I can't really tolerate this. The smirk eases up only when it comes to soldiers, other good boys in the club. The whole thing recalled, to me, the excesses of British imperialism. You know, the way the, ah, old chaps talk about the stupid hindustani niggers in the club.

The actual "guidebook" part, uh, it's not going to help anybody, I don't think. The "fictional UK coup" inserts are mediocre, and lead to nowhere, really, no resolution there, no plot twists, no gripping techno-thriller.

I could, I guess, give this a 2*, because it did make me think, it does have a couple of good points, and I did learn a couple of things from it.
But no, "did not like it".

[Public Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's almost funny how straight the authors play this. There is legitimate advice for how one might go about staging a coup d'etat in this book. For example planning, training, recruitment, and counter-surveillance.

But the number of people actually reading this book and contemplating a military overthrow are vanishingly small. Instead, this book operates as an interesting insight into how western intelligence services do their dirty work. The most interesting sections, I thought, shed light on the overthrow of Iran's Mossadegh and CIA's cultivation of Saddam Hussein as far back as the 1950s.

The authors make an insightful distinction between invasion versus intervention. Both are examples of how a powerful nation like the US tries to effect regime change inside another country. Invasion is done in plain sight by sending in the military guns blazing. Intervention is a covert operation doing the dirty work behind the scenes to turn that country's own military against itself. Guess which one happens way more often?

I enjoyed how every chapter opened with an imagined narrative of a British coup d'etat (very anglo-centric this book). But after a while all the descriptions of different coups across the globe got a little repetitive and dull. It seems the authors speak from experience. Worth reading for the title alone.

[Michael Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good historical backgrounder on the concept of coups, with detailed histories of several notable coups. Authors propose a fictionalized model for a coup based in the UK, drawing on their experience as former SAS operatives. Well thought out, cogently written, entertaining in the abstract.

Taken as historical review and fictional musing, a good read. Possibly not the "How To" manual that some revolutionaries hoped for, this work takes the theme matter of Rules for Radicals back to the fundamental system-changing at gun-point basics, without the self effacing lie of clothing it moralistic whole cloth.

[Matthew Kresal · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I bought this book in the summer of 2020 while reading Fredrick Forsyth's The Dogs of War, a writing buddy of mine half-jokingly said I was likely to be on an FBI watchlist. I laughed until I opened the book and, in the introduction to the 2017 edition, the authors mentioned a series of FBI raids against US-based African coup plotters. Among the items those would-be coup members had? "A well-thumbed copy" of a previous edition of the book. So, yeah, I (and anyone else with a copy) is probably on an FBI watchlist!

If you're willing to risk that, though, it's an intriguing read. Being one part history book, journalist David Hebditch and former SAS member Ken Connor offer a look across decades worth of coups. From Iran in 1953 to the failed 2004 attempted coup in Equatorial Guinea (with plenty more in-between!), they offer readers a look at why some efforts succeeded, why others failed, and what it takes pulling off a coup. Inevitably, but not frequently, there are references to Forsyth's The Dogs of War, including to the real events that inspired the novel's being written, as well as comparisons to the realities versus the fiction.

If any of that makes it sounds like this is a dry, dull book, you couldn't be more mistaken. The tone used is light, even breezy, which uses humor alongside information to inform the reader. Something which probably is for the best given how utterly absurd some of the stories told in the book are, especially with countries that seem to have a revolving door of coup attempts and governments. Connor, as a former SAS member, offers up the occasional vignette of experiences on the ground as well. These range from the importance of logistics, a fellow SAS member's attempts at being a mercenary, and experiences in some of the countries mentioned. And to further demonstrate the lessons, each chapter opens with a bit of fiction that wouldn't be out of place in a techno-thriller or alternate history novel, depicting such a coup taking place in the (near future for the original edition) UK.

While the tone might be a tad too light or sensationalistic for some, but it does make the book an engaging, and informative, read. Indeed, with some recent events, it's made reading the book all the more illuminating and timely. For armchair warriors or (hopefully) writers looking to add a dose of reality to their fiction, How to Stage a Military Coup is well worth a read. If only to see how incredible it is that any coup attempt succeeds at all, frankly.

[Razeeb · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book on military coups and military intervention by superpowers. There is a correlation which citizens must know.
I liked the book.

[E. Kahn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Entertaining but fundamentally unserious. Luttwak is a nutbar but his "Coup d'Etat" is much better.

[Stingray · Rating 4 out of 5]

„How to stage a military coup“ by Hebditch and Connor provides an easily readable volume of anecdotes and historical incidents that does translate into general findings but is not meant to be taken too seriously.
From the start the authors of the book make it clear they do not write an analytical study or a comprehensive handbook but rather cite historical examples or personal experiences and use induction to come to general conclusions on them. Utilizing the tool of the handbook complete with templates for public statements the authors make it clear how similar different coup movements in vulnerable states actually are. Their system of classifying coups as well as their checklist to determine coup likelihood in a country are not based on well researched data but nonetheless are useful. The reader is thus informed on key factors in a military coup and is provided with examples in a lighthearted fashion, while the topic as such might as well be a grueling and depressing one.
While the political scientist will find this volume lacking in theoretical grounding and research, the professional soldier will recognize some basic takeaways for every planning process and the layman will find the real world examples of past coups bizarre and sometimes ridiculous.

[Dan Trubman · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you're looking for a book that addresses why coups happen from a political science perspective, this isn't it.

If you're looking for a breezy quick read of some anecdotes and tongue in cheek histories of coup attempts, this is a fun enough read.

[Chuibah Borris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great book

[Micheal Marshal]

having this in the shelve make people look at you strangely.

What a great book

Means almost all coups in Africa was orchestrated by Communist or Capitalist bloc.

[Justin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do NOT try this at home! Comes the warning.

Because the authors are British, get ready for British dry wit.

[Marcus · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was reading this one for research. A few chapters in I got what I needed, and I wasn't compelled to read the rest.

Regardless of the title, "How to Stage a Military Coup" isn't really an instruction manual as much as a collection of anecdotes about real-world coups. And if that's what you're looking for, it's great. I found it entertaining, both in content and in narrative voice.

For some reason, each chapter begins with a fictional segment telling the story of a theoretical coup of the UK. As someone who has lived in London for a while, the first few chapters of this (aka, the ones I read) sounded hilariously like they were written by someone who had only seen London through the eyes of a tourism website. It's like...

"The helicopters flew up the Thames past the flood barrier. It wouldn't be long now before they were at Big Ben, which is right next to the London Eye. But that's not where they were headed. They were bound for Buckingham Palace. Flying low enough to see the red double-decker buses, and the red K2 phone booths, and St. Martin's Theatre, which is still showing "The Mousetrap," as it had been for about as long as Queen Elizabeth II had been on the throne. But those days were numbered, because Trafalgar Square and the London Underground and Piccadilly Circus."

[Bongobongo · Rating 3 out of 5]

The sarcasm got very boring and repetitive. At one point I thought the short intros of the chapters to be more agreeable than the chapters themselves.

[Reza Amiri Praramadhan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A nice combination of how-to and historical example, unfortunately rather low in variety of examples used. Nevertheless, the fictional story of military coup in UK is quite interesting to imagine, although it is unlikely to happen. A unique kind of reading for people interested in political intrigues and military interference in politics, while not forgetting foreign sponsorship in such coups.

[Farhan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read indeed. The inclusion of the 2003 Masirah Island pre-planning was nice to see, lends more credibility to the tome. Four stars.

[Yazir Paredes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not much of a "Manual", it recollects stories from different Coups around the world showing what works and what doesn't. Interesting to understand the mindset of different countries..