Gangs and Counter-gangs

London: Barrie and Rockliff, 1960. First edition. Hardcover. First edition. Signed by Frank Kitson on the title page xii, 211 pp. with illustrations. Bound in publisher's dark green cloth with gilt lettering. Very Good with tape stains to cloth, light foxing to edges, former owner's name written on paste down, in a Very Good dust jacket with sunned spine panel, price-clipped. Quite uncommon signed. Details the author's influential counterinsurgency campaign in Kenya under British rule. Aaron Edwards described it thusly for a post on Engelsberg Ideas: "Kitson’s work centred on the concept of ‘pseudo-gangs’, who would pose as Mau Mau fighters to draw out the enemy from the forests and mountains. The idea revolved around complementary and overlapping tactics, such as the capture and interrogation of Mau Mau suspects, payment of informers, the turning of Mau Mau fighters to become trackers, and the management of a vast card index on suspects. It was Kitson’s leadership, however – particularly in directing these small teams – that enabled them to provide the security forces with the intelligence necessary to locate the enemy." This work has become a sort of underground classic of military strategy and anti-terrorism often popularly referenced for its advocacy of controversial, underhanded measures like "false flag" tactics. Kitson's innovations would be later applied to Northern Ireland. (Inventory #: 140946858)