Guerrilla Air Defense II: Improvised Antiaircraft Weapons and Techniques, Paperback

Originally published in 1996, Guerrilla Air Defense remains the only book which looks at the topic of improvised and insurgent air defense weapons and techniques. The rise of airpower in the 20th century proved its worth in counterinsurgency operations and in turn has seen guerrilla and partisan movements develop the means to defeat the aircraft of the enemy. As Doc Crabtree explains, the roots of air defense actually goes back before 1900. Remarkably, a copy of this book was found in bin Laden's compound when he was killed by Navy Seals in 2011.

James "Doc" Crabtree is a historian and has written many articles relevant to the military art. He is also a cartoonist and has done several strips, including Buster's Battery and Out On A Limb. He has published in The Fort Bliss Monitor, The ARCENT Desert Voice, the Leavenworth Lamp, Military Review, Air Defense Artillery Magazine and Slick Times. Crabtree's main area of expertise is air defense, although he has also studied the U.S. Civil War, World War One, World War Two, and the Middle Eastern Wars. He has spent considerable time in the Middle East.