Sunday Times (UK).
Sun Tzu. Tr., Samuel B. Griffith. The Art of War. Oxford: Clarendon, 1963. New York & Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1971.
Pforzheimer says that "Chapter XIII on 'Employment of Secret Agents' is ... a classic in early intelligence literature, as are [Sun Tzu's] references to deception." For Constantinides, the work is "compulsory reading for the intelligence officer."
The Sun Tzu Website at: http://www.sonshi.com ("Sonshi is the largest Sun Tzu website") notes that Griffith's translation "has commentaries within the text itself; good history and analysis." It also includes "[e]xcellent and unique sections on Sun Tzu's influence in Japan and on Mao Tse-Tung, and a foreword by ... B.H. Liddell Hart."
See Michael Warner, "The Divine Skein: Sun Tzu on Intelligence," Intelligence and National Security 21, no. 4 (Aug. 2006), for a positive assessment of the relevance of The Art of War to intelligence practice today.
There are a number of translations of Sun Tzu other than Griffith's (which I continue to use). These include:
Sun Tzu. Tr., Denma Translation Group. The Art of War. Boston, MA: Shambhala, 2002.
According to http://www.sonshi.com, this translation is "based mostly on the Yin Chueh Shan text, deciphered from bamboo strips (dated 140 - 118 B.C.) discovered in 1972. The Yin Chueh Shan text predates all previously known Sun Tzu copies by 1,000 years."
Ames, Roger T., Tr. Sun-Tzu: The Art of Warfare. New York: Ballantine, 1993.
http://www.sonshi.com comments: "Of all the Sun Tzus on the market, [this translation] has the most perfect balance between accuracy and readability."
Cleary, Thomas, Tr. The Illustrated Art of War. Boston, MA: Shambhala, 2003.
Cleary, Thomas, Tr. The Art of War: Complete Text and Commentaries. Boston, MA: Shambhala, 2004
http://www.sonshi.com notes that Cleary's translation first appeared in 1988 and "is considered by many to be the most accessible" translation.
Minford, John, Tr. The Art of War. New York: Viking, 2002.
According to http://www.sonshi.com, this translation incorporates "the conventionally accepted text, Shiyijia zhu Sunzi, along with commentary from various ancient and modern sources. This book "is perfect for someone who wants both an accurate translation and an extensive explanation of its many concepts and principles."
Sawyer, Ralph D., Tr. Sun Tzu: The Art of War. Nashville, TN: Westview, 1994.
http://www.sonshi.com says that "Sawyer's rendering from the Chinese is incredibly accurate; it is high on readability as well."
Sawyer, Ralph D., Tr. The Complete Art of War: Sun Tzu and Sun Pin. Nashville, TN: Westview, 1996.
According to http://www.sonshi.com, this edition "has both Sun Tzu's and Sun Pin's Art of War, but without Sawyer's in-depth analysis of Sun Tzu" in the 1994 edition.
[Historical/Ancient]
Superville, Darlene. "Obama Signs Pair of Intelligence Bills into Law." Associated Press, 7 Oct. 2010. [http://www.ap.org]
"President Barack Obama signed a pair of intelligence bills into law" on 7 October 2010. One bill seeks to "improve oversight of sensitive spy operations"; the other seeks to "reduce the amount of threat information that is classified and kept from state and local authorities as a result." Clark comment: The Intelligence Authorization bill is the first such passed by Congress since 2004.
[GenPostwar/Budgets/2011; Oversight/2010]
Suro, Roberto (Washington Post).
Suskind, Ron. The One Percent Doctrine: Deep Inside America's Pursuit of Its Enemies Since 9/11. New York Simon & Schuster, 2006.
Gellman, Washington Post, 20 Jun. 2006, calls this "an important book.... It enriches our understanding of even familiar episodes from the Bush administration's war on terror and tells some jaw-dropping stories we haven't heard before." The "book is full of amazing, persuasively detailed vignettes about the[] world" of intelligence and counterterrorism professionals. The author calls these "career terror-fighters 'the invisibles,' and he likes them.... Reviled for failure to develop human spies inside al-Qaeda, the CIA in fact has done so at least twice, Suskind reports."
For Peake, Studies 51.1 (Mar. 2007), the author "tells an interesting story about the war on terror," but his book "is little more than Washington gossip" when it deals with intelligence. Because there is no sourcing, it is impossible to tell whether Suskind's stories are accurate.
Shaun Waterman, "Subway Cyanide Gas Device 'probably wouldn't work.'" United Press International, 26 Jun. 2006, quotes experts as stating that the "Mubtakker," the device identified in Suskind's The One Percent Doctrine as having been "developed by al-Qaida to disperse deadly cyanide gas in subway cars and other confined spaces[,] has never been used in a terrorist attack and probably would not be very effective."
[Terrorism/00s/Gen]
Sutherland, Christine. Monica: Heroine of the Danish Resistance. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1990.
Surveillant 1.2: This book is a biography of "Monica Massy-Beresford Wichfield, an Irish aristocrat, educated in England and Europe," who became "a leading member of the Danish Resistance." She was eventually "betrayed & sentenced to death."
[Women/WWII/Other; WWII/Eur/Res/Other]
Sutherland, Daniel E.
1. A Savage Conflict: The Decisive Role of Guerrillas in the American Civil War. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2009.
From publisher: The author "points out that early in the war Confederate military and political leaders embraced guerrilla tactics.... As the war dragged on and defense of the remote spaces of the Confederate territory became more tenuous, guerrilla activity spiraled out of state control. It was adopted by parties who had interests other than Confederate victory, including southern Unionists, violent bands of deserters and draft dodgers, and criminals who saw the war as an opportunity for plunder.... Once vital to southern hopes for victory, the guerrilla combatants proved a significant factor in the Confederacy's final collapse."
Mead, FA 89.1 (Jan.-Feb. 2010), finds that this work is an "engagingly written and beautifully researched study." It is a "dispassionate but horrifying study of partisan warfare in the United States."
2. ed. Guerrillas, Unionists and Violence on the Confederate Homefront. Fayetteville, AR: University of Arkansas Press, 1999.
The basic theme here is Southern Unionism. Individual essays cover local examples in Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas.
[CivWar/Guerrillas]
Sutherland, David. He Who Dares: Recollections of Service in the SAS, SBS and MI5. Barnsley, UK: Cooper, 1998. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1999.
Jonkers, AFIO WIN 35-99 (3 Sep. 1999), notes that this is "a personal recollection of special operations during ... World War II, mostly in the Aegean area and covering raids on German-held airfields, in conjunction with Greek resistance fighters.... The author served in the Army during World War II and until 1955, when he joined MI5, for whom he worked for twenty-five years. Although the title indicates coverage of his MI5 years, this gets short shrift in a few pages. The book really covers the Special Boat Service ... and its operations against the Germans."
Foot, I&NS 14.3, notes that Sutherland succeeded Lord Jellicoe as commander of SBS. The author "describes several of the operations SBS carried out, in riveting detail.... This book shows irregular forces at their most effective."
[UK/WWII/Services/SAS/SBS]
Sutherland, Douglas. The Fourth Man: The Story of Blunt, Philby, Burgess and Maclean. London: Secker & Warburg, 1980. The Great Betrayal: The Definitive Story of Blunt, Philby, Burgess and Maclean. New York: Times Books, 1980.
Clark comment: Sutherland believed that the revelations with regard to Blunt settled the issue of the scope of the Cambridge ring. We know today that this was not the case. Constantinides says the author "offers very little that is new, much speculation, and a number of mistakes."
[UK/SpyCases/Five]
Sutherland, Ian D.W. [LTCOL/USA (Ret.)] Special Forces of the United States Army, 1952-1982. San Jose, CA: R. James Bender, 1990.
Yang, FILS 12.4, notes that the author sees the Green Berets as part of the legacy of OSS. The book "briefly traces the illustrious career of Colonel [Aaron] Bank." OSS had "a profound influence on the doctrinal, institutional, and organizational makeup of today's S[pecial] F[orces].... SF has yet to overcome institutional misconceptions and prejudices within the U.S. Army." This book "can be considered the unofficial SF 'bible.'" While it "may well be the best overall publication on SF, it is not without some minor faults.... Despite its authenticity, thorough discussion, and extensive bibliography, the book contains no citations."
[MI/SpecOps/Thru90s]
Suttill, Francis J., and M.R.D. Foot. "SOE's 'Prosper' Disaster of 1943." Intelligence and National Security 26, no. 1 (Feb. 2011): 99-105.
This article by Prosper's second son and namesake and the official historian of SOE in France "seeks to clear up what went wrong" when Prosper's Paris-based circuit was rolled up. See also, Seiler, La tragédie du réseau Prosper (2003).
[UK/WWII/Services/SOE]
Return to S Table of Contents
Return to Alphabetical Table of Contents